Toxic Industrial Compounds
With an estimated 800,000 shipments of hazardous materials transported throughout the U.S. each day, the threat of an accidental or intentional release of a toxic industrial compound is a serious one. Chemical plants, pipelines, storage facilities, railroads, and trucks are all possible sources from which toxic industrial compounds could be released. Should such an incident occur, there would be an immediate analytical need to determine the nature of the release, establish perimeters to ensure public safety, monitor decontamination efforts, and confirm effective remediation of the chemical agent.
What compounds are classified as highly toxic?
One of the most challenging aspects of planning the analytical response to the release of a toxic industrial compound (TIC) is the vast number of potential target compounds. As an example, the EPA has published a reference list of over 300 toxic compounds titled "Alphabetical Order List of Extremely Hazardous Substances (Section 302 of EPCRA)," which can be readily segmented into several distinct classes of materials.
Detection of Toxic Industrial Compounds
Although no single measurement technique is able to analyze for all known TICs, Agilent offers several technologies that work together to provide near comprehensive analytical capability. These technologies include gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) for toxic gases and volatile organic chemicals; liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) for low-volatile organic chemicals; and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for toxic metals and metal-containing compounds. The systems can be "fixed" in an existing lab or "transportable" in a fully equipped mobile facility.
|