Date Awarded

1983

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Department

Virginia Institute of Marine Science

Abstract

This project attempts to identify toxic organic substances used in Virginia, which cannot be detected by conventional analytical procedures. A list from the Virginia Bureau of Toxic Substances Information which contained substances reported as used in manufacture or produced in Virginia was cross-referenced with the Master File of toxic substances compiled pursuant to the Toxic Substances Control Act. Organic chemicals appearing on both lists were thus identified as toxic substances used in Virginia, and were the subjects of this research. Due to the reporting requirements of the Virginia Toxic Substances Information Act, the 113 "compounds" do not include substances used solely in repair work in Virginia. In addition, since chemicals used only as pesticides or drugs were not included in the Master File, these types of substances do not appear in the list of 113 "compounds". Conventional organic analytical procedures were studied, and five basic critical parameters which could impair analysis were determined: volatility, stability, solubility, adsorption in liquid chromatography, and problems in GC and GC/MS. The literature was then researched for these critical parameters to indicate the ability of conventional techniques to detect the 113 "compounds". "Compounds" which were either not detectable or possibly detectable by conventional techniques were assessed for potential long term environmental accumulation. An analytical technique, involving a minimum of steps, was then developed to analyze specifically for those "compounds" requiring special monitoring.

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.25773/v5-vdbf-8m78

Rights

© The Author

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