Document 6wBkKn8qE1Zd8ZO2kopVaDm3o

s ^Clayton Environmental Consultants Ho.n.AuvMinw D10XINS/FURANS DETERMINATIONS AFTER PCB FIRES by Jaswant Sl^gh, Ph D. Vice Prestoent/Techmcai Director and Paul Epstein, Ph D. Mass Spectroscopist When overheated or involved in a tire, PC8s can produce a complex mixture of organic compounds, many of which are known to be tar more toxic than PC8s themselves Although dioxins and lurans are the most widely recognized PCS oxida tion products, many other chlorinated materials may be produced, such as * PCDDs (polychlorodibenzodioxins) * PCDFs (polychforodibenzolurans) * PCBPs (poiychlorobiphenylenes) * PCPYs (polychlorinated pyrenes) * PCDPEs (polychlorinated diphenyl ethers) Many ol these compounds are known to (Continued on Pege 4} Uhler Named President Mr. Robert G Uhler has been named President ot Clayton Envi ronmental Consultants, eftective May 25.1985 Bob joined Clayton in 1983. coming Irom National Economic Research Associates (NERA), a slater company to Clayton under Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc He has an M.A in economics, and has specialized in risk /benefit analysis tor the utility industry and, more recently, envi ronmental economics Bob will direct Clayton operations In the U S , Clayton Environmental Con sultants. Ltd In Canada, and Bowr ing Clayton Environmental Services in the U K , from Clayton head quarters In Southfield, Michigan Andrew Hicks of Bowring Clayton Emnronmenttl Services wts onee/ftnyMmilttiidMa jammer on tsOeffos tn London, UK.,)nMty for mkrmiUon or upcoming sammwj, m Pege 3. Contaminated Properties: Buyer Beware by Douglas Bach Environmental Engineer Cavaet emptor-let the buyer beware -has long been sound advice when pur chasing properly. 8ut in recent years, the old adage has taken on added signif icance. With the threat of toxic contamina tion, real estate purchases present tar more than the usual Investment risks, owning some properties can cost millions ol dollars In cleanup and legal tees As more and more cases of contaminated real estate deals surface, property acquisi tions are being approached much more cautiously than in the past Consider just a few of the cases we have encountered at Clayton where a party has unwittingly acquired a contaminated white elephant. A large municipality purchased an abandoned factory from a struggling manufacturer lor ten dollars The factory contained hundreds of pieces of PCB-ftiled electrical equipment which was quickly vandalized by thieves seeking copper Numerous spills ot this highly persistent and toxic chemicat within the building have rendered the plant unusable and could cost millions of dollars to dean up A bank purchased a corner tot, formerly occupied by a gas station, as a site tor a branch operation Shortly alter the branch opened, employees began complaining of gasoline fumes within the building The old underground fuel storage tanks ire suspected as the sourced the odors in vestigating the site will cost tens ot thousands ol dollars, remediation Is likely to cost much more A bank foreclosed on a long-time paint formulating operation, only to find Itself the owner ot some badly contaminated property occupied by hundreds d drums ol hazardous wastes After considerable legal squabbling, the site eventually became eligible tor federal cleanup under Superfund. A municipality acquired an abandoned gas station through non-payment ol taxes Several dilapidated hazardous waste hauling vehicles were found on the pro perty and the underground tanks-- over 30 years old-were still in place The (Continued on Pegt 3) HONS 213728 xlns/Furans Determinations (ContmuOO t'Orn PQt }) ll should be emphasireo that quanniative slandaros tor many ol the tiighly toxic To account tO' such Opponents in addition to The dioxin (j, 3 7. S-TCDD) in determining a safe jgvei subsequent to a PCS lire in 198' in me Binghamton (New York) State Office Bunding a composite index called the TCDD equivalent ` was developed by a panel ol experts The TCDD equivalent takes into account the concentrations of chlorinated dioxins, tutans and bipheny- capillary column GC/MS Ions tor allot the PCDDs and PCDFs containing lour or more chlorines are momiored within (he correel GC retention time windows Quantitation is based on the labeled internal standards that were added to the sample before extraction Choice ot capillary columns depends on whether the analysis is tor isomer specific TCDD (CP-SiL 88) or total PCDDs and PCOFs (DB-5) chlorinated aromatics are not available to analytical chemrjij making quamnaiive analyses of these compounds difficult However, this criterion based on select organic compounds sliti presents a useful way ot approximating the acceptable contaminanl levels II is evident that il oxidation products ol PC6s are suspected the mam concern should be evaluation ol TCDD equivalent PC6 measurement although important may m tact be lenes in the sample and makes certain assumptions about their toxicities as compared to the toxicity ol 2. 3. 7 8-TCDD The basic assumption in developing the The TCDD equivalents are then analyzed using ihe New York State Department ot Health algorithm to calculate "2. 3. 7. 8 TCDD equivalents'1 In terms ol all the PCDDs. PCDFs, and PC0PS in the sample secondary Dr Paul Epstein is head ot the organic analytical group ti Clayton His expertise includes GC/MS analyses ol dioxins/ lurans and other toxic organic TCDD equivalents tor reentry criterion was that a no-observed effect level ol 1 .nets HNS 14 mins ia sees a aann nanogram/kg/day in rats has been reported lor 2 3 7,8-TCDD To determine TCDD equivalent, analysts of soot. air. and wipe samples are analyzed using complex GC/MS analyses Sampling lor airborne chlorinated dioxins, turans and other aromatic compounds is perlormed through a combination ol titter and sorbent media using relatively large sample volumes Air samples lor PCDFs. PCDDs, and PCBPs are collected using a high-vofume sampling device based on one designed by (he New York State Department ot Health and used at the Binghamton State Office Building site The sampler is a two-stage unit consisting ol a 47-mm glass micro fiber fllttf followed by a glass absorption lube containing activated silica gel The samples are connected to a 15 elm Gasl vacuum pump Large (approximately 100 cubic meler) air samples led to measure ments in the range ol 8 to 100 programs per cubic meter ol air (pg/m'} Figure 1 Typical mass chromatogram lor a mixture ot PCDFs Alter extensive cleanup, the samples are analyzed by gas chromatography/ mass spectrometry (GC/MS) A typical mass chromatogram tor a mixture ol PCDFs is shown in Figure t The analytical protocol used is a modification ol the methods developed by the U S EPA Region vii laboratory - The samples are fortified with an internal standard mixture containing several C labeled PCDDs and PCDFs and a "CL labeled 2, 3. 7 8-TCDD as a surrogate and then extracted in a Soxhlet lor 2D to 24 hours with toluene as the solvent The extract is passed through chromatography columns, consisting ot silica gel treated with sodium hydroxide silica gel treated with suliunc acid, and a basic alumma column. The cieaned-up extracts are then analyzed by selected ion monHonng (SIM) Based on the calculations ol the TCDD equivalent, a reentry criterion was developed by the Binghamton advisory panel. This cnienon is represented in Figure 2 and takes into account combined exposure through air and surface con tamination This guideline is based upon limiting the workday contaminant intake to 2 pg/kg per day of 2 3. 7 8-TCDD equivalent As Figure 2 shows, it surface contamination is zero or below the detection limit, then the air limit ol 10 pg/m' ot 2, 3, 7 8-TCDD equivalent becomes the reentry guideline It, on the other hand, the airborne value tor the TCDD equivalent is nondetectabie. then the reentry value will be based entirely on the surface contamination *4* compounds Questions on this should he directed to him at (313) 424-8860 -- Editor References Determination ol 2, 3, 7 8-Tetrochloro-pdioxin in Sol Kloepier. R D . K T Yue, and WW Bunn Chlorinated Dioxins and Dibonzofvrent in tho Total Envfronmont II. L.H Keith, C Rappe.andG Chaudshary eds Ann Arbor Science, t985 New York State Department ol Health MeasuremM of Residual Contaminants in the JUr and on Sorbet! In Floors 2 through IS ot the Binghamton Stab Office Bunding September S, 1985. HONS 213729