Development of a health-based total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) method
- CanTox Inc., Mississauga, Ontario (Canada)
- CanTox Inc., Calgary, Alberta (Canada)
The contamination of soils and groundwater by petroleum products is a problem commonly encountered in remediation of petroleum-associated industrial sites. Petroleum products can e released into the environment from various types of production, distribution, and storage facilities due primarily to accidental leaks and spills. Chemical analyses of petroleum products, mainly fresh, and to some extent, weathered, demonstrate they are composed of a large umber of chemicals that differ in toxicity, physical-chemical properties, environmental fate, and concentrations within various products. To characterize the extent of contamination at a site with petroleum products, a total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) analysis is commonly used. However, there are limitations to the use of the TPH parameter for site characterization, and it cannot be used for either the assessment of potential health risks associated with a site, or for the development of health-based remediation criteria for various environmental media at a site. An approach has been developed that would enable the use of the TPH parameter, together with toxicological and analytical data, in the assessment of potential adverse health (human and/or ecological) impacts from a petroleum contaminated site, and in the development of site-specific remediation objectives. The approach retains the advantages of the TPH parameter as an indicator of petroleum hydrocarbon contamination (simplicity of measurement, reasonable cost and measure of entire chemical mixture), while providing a linkage to the toxicity of the various chemical components of specific TPH measurements.
- OSTI ID:
- 367486
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9511137--; ISBN 1-880611-03-1
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Composition of TPH in soil vs. specific organics
Evaluation of the total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) standard for JP-4 jet fuel