Introduction to Contaminated Site Management - Dealing with Contaminated Sites: From Theory Towards Practical Application - page 25

or carbonates, and ammonium carbonate, which participates in atmospheric photo-
chemical reactions' (US EPA 2008 ). Infamous sources of VOCs are dry cleaning
facilities. Other sources are paint, fabric softeners, petroleum fuels (e.g., gaso-
line), and crude oil. Moreover, several indoor sources are recognized, for example,
photocopiers, carpet backings, and furniture. Widespread VOCs in soils include
trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene, 1,1,1- trichloroethane, vinyl chloride, and,
to a lesser extent, glycol ethers, hexane, formaldehyde, methyl bromide, methyl
chloride and methyl ethyl ketone.
VOCs are readily soluble in fat. They may result in many different effects on
human health, mainly after inhalation, ranging from dizziness, via narcotic effects,
to neurotoxicological effects. Some agents of this group are carcinogenic, mutagenic
or tetragenic.
1.3.3.7 Other Organochlorides
Organochlorides contain at least one chlorine atom. These chemicals are typically
non-aqueous and are usually denser than water due to the presence of heavy chlorine
atoms. The simplest forms of organochlorides are chlorinated hydrocarbons. These
consist of simple hydrocarbons in which one or more hydrogen atoms have been
replaced with chlorine. Many chlorinated hydrocarbons (e.g., dichloromethane,
dichloroethene, trichloroethane, chloroform, and dioxins) are used as solvents.
These solvents tend to be relatively non-polar and are therefore immiscible with
water and effective in cleaning applications such as degreasing and dry cleaning.
Other organochlorides are used as effective insecticides, such as DDT, heptachlor,
endosulfan, chlordane, and pentachlorophenol. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)
were once commonly used in electrical insulators and heat transfer agents. Their
use has generally been phased out due to health concerns. Actually, BTEX
(benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes), here classified as monocyclic aro-
matic hydrocarbon, also could be included in this category.
Organochlorines generally affect the stomach, blood, liver, kidneys, and the
nervous system.
1.3.3.8 Petroleum Hydrocarbons
Petroleum hydrocarbons (aka: petrol- or gasoline-related hydrocarbons; often called
Total PetroleumHydrocarbons or TPH) is a group of frequently found contaminants,
which actually are complex mixtures of a whole spectrum of contaminants. These
separate contaminants, which can add up to several hundred chemical compounds,
mainly are hydrocarbons, both aliphatic and aromatic, and a whole spectrum of
additives such as benzene, toluene, xylenes, naphthalene, and fluorene. No spe-
cific petroleum hydrocarbon mixture equals another existing petroleum hydrocarbon
mixture. TPH compounds can affect the central nervous system, the blood, immune
system, lungs, skin, and eyes or cause headaches, dizziness or a nerve disorder called
'peripheral neuropathy,' consisting of numbness in the feet and legs (ATSDR 2009 ).
Several TPH compounds are (probably or possibly) carcinogenic.