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A Gas Chromatographic/Chemical Indicator Approach to Assessing Ground Water Contamination by Petroleum Products |
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| Authors: | Debra H Thomas Joseph J Delfino |
| Institution: | Debra H. Thomas is an environmental engineer in the Water Management Division of U.S. EPA, Region VIII (Denver Place, 999 18th Street, Ste. 500, Denver, CO 80202–2405). Prior to beginning work at EPA, she studied the fate of petroleum products in ground water as part of her master's degree research, a portion of which formed the basis of this paper. She received her B.S. degree in environmental resources engineering from Humboldt State University in Arcata, California, and her M.E. degree in environmental engineering sciences from the University of Florida in Gainesville.;Joseph J. Delfino is professor and chairman, Environmental Engineering Sciences Department at the University of Florida (Gainesville, FL 32611). He earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in chemistry and the Ph.D. degree in civil and environmental engineering (water chemistry) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In addition to his academic activities, Dr. Delfino was the co-creator and chief technical advisor of the award-winning PBS TV documentary film, The Florida Water Story. Address inquiries to Dr. Delfino at the preceding address. |
| Abstract: | The water-soluble fractions of unleaded gasoline, kerosene and diesel fuel were evaluated by U.S. EPA Methods 602, 610, and 625. Several chemical indicator compounds useful in assessing petroleum contamination of ground water, including benzene, substituted benzenes, n-alkanes, and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, were identified. These were applied to the interpretation of data collected from monitoring wells at gasoline service stations that were undergoing ground water remediation. The chemical indicators are used to identify the likely type(s) of petroleum contamination. Certain hydrocarbons may be unique to specific fuel types. Gas chromatograms of field sample extracts were compared with chromatograms of laboratory water-soluble fractions (WSFs) and neat fuels (unleaded gasoline, kerosene, and diesel). In some situations, field samples represented water-soluble fractions of the contaminating fuel. In others, a fuel-water agglomeration was indicated, with the chromatograms showing peaks that represented components of both the WSFs and the neat fuels. The use of both gas chromatography pattern identification and chemical indicators appears to be a viable approach to assessing ground water contamination caused by petroleum products. |
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