TPH METHOD 418.1

Michaelle Exhume Environmental Testing Laboratories, Inc.

Mentor: Patty ElsFreeport High School

VOCABULARY

• EPA - Environmental Protection Agencies• Solvent – a substance that is capable of dissolving

another substance• Freon – nonflammable gaseous liquid• Hexane – a colorless flammable liquid used as a

solvent and as a working fluid in low temperature thermometers.

• Silica Gel- a porous form of silica that is highly absorbent

• MS- Matrix Spike

• MSD- Matrix Spike Duplicate

…CONTINUED• Spectrophotometer – an instrument used for

measuring the intensity of light of a definite wavelength transmitted by a substance or a solution, thus providing a measure of the amount of material in the solution absorbing the light.

• VOA

Introduction

• What is TPH 418.1?

It is defined as the measurable amount of petroleum-based hydrocarbons in an environmental media. Since it is a measured, gross quantity without identification of its elements, the TPH value still represents a mixture. Therefore, TPH itself is not a direct risk to humans and the environment

• Most of the samples used are collected soils and groundwater from construction sites

• This method is used to find the percentage of petroleum hydrocarbons

• This test is important because it is required by the EPA periodically every year.

OBJECTIVE

• To find the percentage of petroleum hydrocarbons in the given samples.

Materials

• VOA• Sonicator• Soil Samples• Silica Gel• Digital Weighing Scale• Spatula• Freon• Spectrophotometer• Pipette• Cuvette• Glass Wool• Florossil

Procedure

TPH 418.11. Weigh approximately 10 grams of soil sample into a

VOA

*Blank 10 grams of sand

*MS “

*MSD “

2. Add 3 grams of silica gel to each VOA.

3. Add 20 ml of Freon

4. Spike the MS, and MSD with .2 ml of 10,000 ppm TPH spike solution

…CONTINUED

5. Sonicate for 20 minutes

6. Let it cool and settle for about 15 minutes

7. Filter the sample through a glass pipette with Florossil and glass wool

8. Place the filtered sample in spectrophotometer

9. Calculate the results using the following formula:

conc Ug/mL *vol ml/wt (gm) = final conc PPM

RESULTS

COC VOL WEIGHT ABS TS Ug/mL0506408-3 20 10.48 .034 .895 28.890506408-4 20 10.17 -.007 .986 3.120506408-5 20 10.09 .01 .944 13.800506408-5DUP 20 10.09 .009 .944 13.170506408-6 20 10.19 .037 .886 30.780506408-7 20 10.32 -.005 .527 4.370506414-1 20 10.69 .722 .833 461.420506414-2 20 10.63 .789 .829 503.540506414-3 20 10.26 .639 .848 409.240506492-1 20 10.62 -.004 .895 5.000506492-2 20 10.62 .012 .748 15.060506492-3 20 10.55 .207 .893 137.65

…continuedCOC VOL WEIGHT ABS TS Ug/mL

0507078-2 20 10.62 1.036 .898 658.83

0507080-2 20 10.20 .556 .911 357.06

0507087-1 20 10.07 .136 .822 93.02

0507087-2 20 10.04 .007 .906 636.20

BLANK 20 10.55 0 1 7.52

BLANK MS 20 10.84 .208 1 144.57

BLANK MSD 20 10.82 .217 1 143.94

CONCLUSION

This project illustrates that the TPH method 418.1 can be used to find out the percentage of hydrocarbons in a highly contaminated soil sample.

FUTURE WORK

• Since Freon and hexane are extraction solvents that evaporate quickly, new methods will be examined to try to find an easier and cheaper way to decontaminate a large portion of highly contaminated soil.

REFERENCES

• www.dictionary.reference.com/freon

• www.dictionary.reference.com/hexane

• www.dictionary.reference.com/solvent

• www.phaseonline.com

• The Great Big Book of Chemistry

• SOP methods

• TPH method 418.1 book

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

• Dr. Sat Bhattacharya• Harlem Children Society• Mr. Edward Irwin• Patty Els• Robin Knappe• Suni Varghese• Lisa Maurino

Thank you