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The ultimate goal of our study is to establish thin-layer chromatography (TLC) as a quick and simple method for identifying the type of refined petroleum products present in the environmental media. As a preliminary step, TLC chromatograms of different petroleum products, including gasoline, kerosene, and diesel, were characterized and compared. Methanol was determined as the optimum carrier solution in TLC analysis. The spherical-shaped TLC chromatogram of gasoline showed the longest migration distance, and thus the highest retardation factor (R _f) of 0.91. This was followed by that of kerosene (0.63) with an elliptical-shaped, and diesel (0.24) with an elongated trapezoid-shaped chromatogram. R _f of kerosene and diesel increased with the dilution factor, while gasoline showed a constant value. Additionally, it was observed that the TLC chromatograms of oils produced the same …