Organic Compounds in Ferrous Foundry Process Waste Leachates

Abstract

An investigation is conducted to determine the potential for and extent of ground‐water contamination by organic matter arising from ferrous foundry solid‐waste landfills. In the laboratory, the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) is used on waste samples representing nine common binder systems to identify organic compounds that may be released from these materials in landfills. Leachates are analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) for qualitative analysis against a data base of 45,000 compounds, and by gas chromatography/flame ionization detector (GC/FID) for quantitative analysis. A field study at four ferrous foundry waste landfills is conducted to determine presence of organic compounds leached from the solid wastes. Laboratory results indicate that although a wide variety of organic compounds are detected, most are present at low concentrations. Core oil and phenolic urethane binder systems leached the largest number of organic compounds and at the highest concentrations. No samples produced concentrations above the TCLP regulatory levels. In field investigations, trace concentrations of some organic compounds, all below quantitative limits, were found in ground‐waters adjacent to three landfills.