Analyzing a priority pollutant in soil
Bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (2-EHP), a priority pollutant, is used extensively in plastic products as a plasticizer. Because of the wide-spread use of plastics, 2-EHP is found in almost all solid wastes. A rapid extraction and screening procedure for bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate from soil has been developed. In a recent exploratory study involving remediation of contaminated soil using an ultrasonic process, a large number of chemical analyses were required to monitor the effect of several process variables on the residual concentration of 2-EHP in the test soil. The analyses did not require a high degree of accuracy, but needed to be fairly rapid and reproducible. The conventional chromatographic procedures, if used for this study, would be both time-intensive and costly and would seriously restrict the amount of data obtained from this small-scale investigative effort. In this study, a large number of samples were being screened to determine the effectiveness of the ultrasonic process and identify critical process variables. Therefore, a rapid and reproducible analytical procedure for 2-EHP was needed. An alternative analytical procedure using methanol extraction and UV-visible spectroscopy was employed for the bulk of the samples. However, the conventional chromatographic procedure also was used to verify selected data points and provide a measure of comparability between the two techniques.
- OSTI ID:
- 227876
- Journal Information:
- Pollution Engineering, Vol. 28, Issue 4; Other Information: PBD: Apr 1996
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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