Identification of
Petroleum Products in Water
L. LIVELY, Chemist
A. A. ROSEN, In Charge, Organic Contaminants Unit
C. I. MASHNI, Chemist
Chemistry and Physics
U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
Public Health Service
Bureau of State Services
Division of Water Supply and Pollution Control
Robert A. Taft Sanitary Engineering Center
Cincinnati, Ohio
INTRODUCTION
Pollution of water resources by petroleum material is a complex problem,
both as to the ways in which pollution arises and the kinds of material responsible
for pollution. Any of the varied classes of petroleum products, ranging from un-
condensed gases to dense tars, may become water pollutants. They havebeen
known to enter into surface and ground waters by numerous routes, among them,
loss during well-drilling, waste during refining, broken long-distance pipelines",
wrecked tank cars, sunken barges, and leaking filling station tanks. The severity
of pollution has ranged from tap water vapor that could be ignited to barely perceptible taste and odor in drinking water.
Despite the constant increase in production and processing of petroleum
products, there has not been a correspondingly intensive development of improved
methods for the analysis of hydrocarbon pollution. Gravimetric and volumetric
analyses, mass spectrometry, and infrared spectroscopy have been the four most
popular techniques used for the analysis of pollution caused by petroleum and its
products. The first two techniques serve as methods of analysis of gross pollution,
while the latter two techniques are suitable where the pollution is not heavy.
Because of its simplicity, speed, and sensitivity, gas chromatography is emphasized in many current analytical developments. These characteristics make it a
valuable technique in the analysis of hydrocarbon pollution.
ANALYTICAL METHODS
It is difficult to analyze the very small quantities of contaminants that cause
taste and odor in water. This fact is particularly true of volatile contaminants
such as those derived from petroleum. Some of the various types of petroleum
products found in water include: natural gas, natural gasoline, refined gasoline,
kerosene, fuel oils, and lubricating oils. Many of them impart a taste and odor
to water at concentrations of a few parts per billion. Gasoline, a major offender,
produces an odor in concentrations as low as 0.005 mg/1 (1). Other products,
depending upon their volatility and composition, have similarly low threshold
odor concentrations.
A number of available methods (2,3,4,5) are limited to detecting and measuring petroleum products in excess of about two mg/1. Generally, they are based
on gravimetric determination of solvent extracts, which include substances other
than hydrocarbons.   Recent research has been devoted to the development of more
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