Volatile Organic Compound Concentrations at a former Gasworks in North Lancashire, UK

Arthur Nwachukwu Nwachukwu, G.U. Sikakwe, B.E. Ephraim, G.A. Eyong, A. Otele

Abstract


Former Gasworks often create an extensive contaminant source in the subsurface. When acted upon by environmental controls, the contaminants (example, VOCs) volatilize into the indoor and ambient environments. Since VOCs are toxic both to human health and the environment, there is often a requirement to monitor their concentration, however; current monitoring technique is of low resolution as it only involves spot sampling. To improve on this, an in-borehole gas monitor called Gasclam (capable of high temporal measurement of VOC concentrations alongside their environmental controls) was used to obtain the aggregate VOC concentrations whilst a Tenax TA sorbent tube incorporated into and to work in parallel with this instrumentation was used to adsorb bulk concentrations of VOC and subsequently desorbed (for characterization) using Thermal Desorption/Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (TD/GC-MS) technique. The result showed aggregate VOC concentrations of 30157 ppm and 5504 ppm in boreholes I and II respectively over the monitoring period. The total concentrations of adsorbed VOCs in boreholes I and II are 3.03 x 102 mg/m3 and1.44 x 102mg/m3 respectively. Among the identified VOCs were those considered to be hazardous to health such as Toluene, Chlorobenzene, Xylene, Ethylbenzene, Methylcyclohexane and Acetaldehyde. Site remediation was therefore recommended.


Keywords


Gasclam, Tenax TA, TD/GC-MS, Carcinogens, Ozone formation.

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