Method for measuring tetraethyl lead and total lead in organic solvents
- Univ. of Florida, Gainesville (United States)
Lead (Pb) contamination is a nationwide public health problem which is prevalent among children in urban metropolitan areas. The source of Pb contamination is due mostly to emissions from vehicular traffic using leaded gasoline. Pb alkyl species used by automobile-related industries include tetraethyl Pb (TEL), tetramethyl Pb, triethylmethyl Pb, dimethyldiethyl Pb, and trimethylethyl Pb compounds. All of these compounds have been used as antiknock agents and have provided a convenient and inexpensive means to enhance octane rating for gasoline. Use of leaded gasoline was almost global for more than 50 years during 1925 to 1975. The amount of Pb released in automobile exhaust during that time accounted for more than a half of the total yearly Pb pollution of the entire earth. Although only Pb-free gasoline may now be used as an automobile fuel in the US, leaded gasoline is still used as both an aviation and automobile fuel in many other countries. Extensive use of Pb antiknock additives has made Pb perhaps the most widely distributed toxic heavy metal in the urban environment. The public health concern about Pb content in the subsurface environment requires a method to determine Pb contents that is both accurate and not demanding of time, technique, or special equipments. The currently used American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM) Standard Method D3237 is time consuming, expensive, and tedious as compared to the method presented in this article. The objective of this study was to develop a simple method to measure TEL as well as total Pb contents in organic solvents using a ICI digestion method. Two types of samples were used: (1) TEL in gasoline, and (2) TEL in hexane. In additional, an experiment was also conducted to verify that conversion of TEL by ICI with the above procedures is actually to inorganic Pb[sup +2] and not to a mixture of the intermediate TREL and DEL species which are highly water soluble.
- OSTI ID:
- 6795041
- Journal Information:
- Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology; (United States), Vol. 52:5; ISSN 0007-4861
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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