Waste sites analysis

The EPA Contract Laboratory Program (CLP) has responsibility for managing the analysis programs required under the U.S. Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). The approved analytical methods are designed to analyze water, soil, and sediment from potentially hazardous waste sites to determine the presence or absence of certain environmentally harmful organic compounds. The methods described here all require the use of GC/MS. 

Because causation of e-waste and pollutants is very difficult to identify as mentioned above, comparative analysis between e-waste and non-e-waste sites is a suitable choice for identifying the environmental impacts from e-waste recycling processes. To achieve this goal, we chose several typical e-waste recycling sites in China as the target regions to conduct comparative analyses. Data acquired from various environmental media near several major e-waste recycling sites and control sites in China were subject to comparative analysis. 

Lesage, S. and Jackson, R.E. (1992) Groundwater Contamination and Analysis of Elazardous Waste Sites. Michael Dekker, New York. 

The main sources for potential human exposure to endrin are residues on imported food items, unused stocks, unregistered use, inappropriate disposal, and hazardous waste sites however, there is no current evidence of significant exposures from any of these sources. Furthermore, it should be noted that in environmental media, especially in contaminated soils and sediments, the amount of endrin chemically identified by analysis is not necessarily the amount that is toxicologically available. 

Such analytical measurements are necessary to establish concentrations for most agents in the environment. How much benzene is present in the air at gasoline stations as a result of its evaporation from gasoline What is the concentration of arsenic in water running off the surface of a hazardous waste site where unknown amounts of arsenic were buried over many years What is the polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) concentration in fish swimming in waters next to a hazardous waste site known to contain this substance How much aflatoxin is in a batch of peanut butter The most reliable answers to these questions are those resulting from chemical analysis. 

Hall et al. (1985) reported that no 1,2-diphenylhydrazine (less than pg/L) was detected in the Nanticoke River near the Chesapeake Bay. The analytical method involved liquid-liquid extraction, concentration, and. analysis by GC/MS. The Contract Laboratory Program statistical database (queried April 13, 1987) reported that 1 2-diphenylhydrazine has been detected n water at i of 357 hazardous waste sites at a concentration of (96 ppb (CLPSDB 1987), and has been reported at 7 of 117, sites. n the national Priority List database (ATSDR 1990) The U.S. EPA Contract laboratory Program uses GC methods to analyze the contaminants of interest. Since 1,2-diphenylhydrazine oxidize, to azobenzene in the GC injector port and both 1,2-diphenylhydrazine and azobenzene, have the same GC retention time and mass spectra, reports of 1,2-diphenylhydrazine from the Contract Laboratory Program may actually represent detections of 1,2-diphenylhydrazine, azobenzene, or both (see Chapter 6 for more details). 

Methods for Determining Parent Compound and Degradation Products in Environmental Media. While analytical methods appear to be available for the analysis of 1,2-diphenylhydrazine, no methods were found for the preservation of 1,2-diphenylhydrazine in ambient air, water, or soil samples. Such methods would allow the development and analysis of a monitoring program designed to better assess the concentrations of 1,2-diphenylhydrazine in and around hazardous waste sites. 

Immunotoxicity. There are currently no data on the effects of 2-hexanone on the human immune system via any route of exposure. Animal data included an inhalation study in which there was a 40% decrease in peripheral white blood cells in rats exposed to 2-hexanone (Katz et al. 1980). In addition, 2,5-hexanedione, a metabolite of 2-hexanone, was shown to adversely affect lymphoid organs of the immune system in rats and to cause impairment of immunity in mice (Upreti and Shanker 1987). Immunological assessments, including analysis of peripheral blood components and effects on lymphoid tissue, conducted as part of intermediate-or chronic-duration studies and skin sensitization tests would be useful in developing a dose-response relationship and assessing the potential risk to chronically exposed persons in the vicinity of hazardous waste sites or to exposed workers. 

Stein VB, Narang RS. 1984. Chlorinated compounds and phenols in tissue, fat, and blood from rats fed industrial waste site soil extract methods and analysis. J Assoc Off Anal Chem 67 111-116. 

This information is necessary for exposure assessment analysis at these sites. Since nickel is found in all soil, studies should focus on waste sites where nickel levels are substantially above those found in ordinary soil. 

Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers. Information on the relative importance of different routes of exposure to PBDEs is limited. Data on the concentrations of PBDEs in foods, collected using a market-basket approach, are needed to determine concentrations of PBDEs in foods consumed by the general population. Data on the PBDE concentrations in foods grown in contaminated areas, particularly in the vicinity of hazardous waste sites, are also needed. Data on congener-specific PBDE analysis of food, especially plant products, would be useful. More monitoring data on the concentrations of total PBDEs as well as conquers in air in remote, rural, urban, and areas near hazardous waste sites and incinerators are needed. Data on PBDE concentrations in finished drinking water nationwide would be helpful. 

Recall Problem 3.1. You are the boss of an analytical laboratory and, this time, you check the numbers from the analysis of chlorobenzene in water samples of very different origins, namely (a) moderately contaminated groundwater, (b) seawater ([salt]tot 0.5 M), (c) water from a brine ([salt]tot = 5.0 M), and (d) leachate of a hazardous-waste site containing 40% (v v) methanol. For all samples, your laboratory reports the same chlorobenzene concentration of 10 ng IT1. Again the sample flasks were unfortunately not completely filled. This time, the 1 L flasks were filled with 400 mL liquid, and stored at 25°C before analysis. What were the original concentrations (in /J,g-L l) of chlorobenzene in the four samples ... 

In the case of degradation products and metabolites, the situation is different. Generally, these compounds were not analysed because in most cases they are not regulated and no effective analytical methods exist for their determination. This means that a correct diagnosis of the environmental situation cannot be made and, as a consequence, no appropriate action can be taken. Therefore, in order to improve the risk assessment of a hazardous waste site for example, as many compounds as possible should be analysed at the beginning of the investigations (non-target analysis). 

The determination of known organic pollutants in the environment (target analysis) and the identification of all possible organic pollutants, i.e. in hazardous waste sites (non-target analysis), are important tasks in environmental analysis. However, the chemical, photochemical and microbiological... 

Gerlach, R.W., M.S. Gustin, and J.M. Van Emon. 2001. On-site mercury analysis of soil at hazardous waste sites by immunoassay and ASV. Appl. Geochem. 16 281-290. 

Generation of organic solvent waste Short analysis time and high throughput Limited portability. Confined to the laboratory Applicable to early-warning and on-site monitoring Qualified personnel required Equipment expensive... 

Consumption of organic solvents avoided. Direct analysis of contaminants in water Minimal, noncontaminating waste Faster analysis real-time detection and high throughput Availability of portable biosensor systems Applicable to early-warning and on-site monitoring Nonqualified personnel required user-friendly Equipment cost-effective... 

Groundwater Contamination and Analysis at Hazardous Waste Sites, edited by Suzanne Lesage and Richard E. Jackson... 

Bord RJ, O Connor RE (1992) Determinants of risk perception of a hazardous waste site. Risk Analysis, 12(3) 411 116. 

Possible uses for stratified random sampling are for spill sites, waste sites, where site-specific management is needed, for atmospheric deposition, in soil sensitivity studies, for effluent and discharge dilution or extinction analysis, and lastly, for modeling. 

Another creative approach is helping to address the extensive sampling and long analysis times that often impede site assessments. US EPA is applying this streamlined scientific approach, called Triad, at several hazardous waste sites in the United States,... 

Hence risk assessment criteria must be established so that there can be developed a national priority list of the hazardous sites that require remedial action. EPA has adopted the Mitre Model for assessing the risks and ranking waste sites. There is some criticism of this model, and there are a number of as yet unanswered questions about its application. Formal cost/benefit analysis will not be used, and risk assessment will be on a case-by-case basis. EPA will thus be developing its knowledge base and procedures as it carries out the program. 

Analysis and Risk Assessment Key to Effective Handling of Hazardous Waste Sites... 

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