'
\/
likely to produce waste water, the Little study disclosed. Many of these 496
chemicals are known to have immediate or chronic toxic eiÏects, or are ca—
pable of inducing cancer in animal. or man. The major sources of these sub—
stances
are industrial enterprises including, in descending order of impor—
-
tance, chemical plants, petroleum plants, plastic manufacturing operations,
tar and gas plants, rubber factories, dye and tanning plants, ore processing
plants, textile factories, pulp mills, and pharmaceutical plants. Agriculture
contributed chemical pesticides, and domestic life added detergents.
The list of 496 organic chemicals found or suspected in waterways is by
no means complete. One hindrance to a comprehensive assessment of modern
chemcial pollution has been the historical empahsis on conventionaltests for
BOD levels and concentrations of suspended and dissolved solids which pro—
vide a rough measure of water quality but do not identify specic chemicals
that may be serious hazards to life even in small quantities. This problem was
stressed in a study reported in 1972 by Dr. Lawrence H. Keith of the National
Environment Research Center, Athens, Georgia [16]. Dr. Keith and other
EPA investigatorS studied the chemical compostion of samples from waste
discharges from seveplants: two petrochemical plants, one synthetic rubber
plant, two petroleur‘n
and two chemical companies; Th_e__in—
_
vestigators used gas chromatography—mass spectrometry to obtain What
amounted to chemical ngerprints indicative Of indiVidual chemicals -or
classes of chemicals. A total of 33 compounds were identied, only seven
which were included among the 496 diScussed in the
Althougha .
number of the 33 chemicals hadx toxic properties, their…ifrip‘act on
ment was uncertain. Nevertheless, EPAÏinvestigators concluded
discharge of more than 300 pounds of rtetrachloroethane and trièhlOroethaæ
from »oneof the chemical companies might
toxic effects on ma—
rine life in
Pôlycyclicaromàücs, such as indenes and naph— \\ <\°
thalenéS from
companies, might produce taste an
"
od0rpr6bl‘emS mdrmkmg Water. The daily waste output of 600 pounds of a
other £petr—ochemical plant were sufcient to cause possibl
oxygen? 1deÿletion in another small bayou. Total daily discharges from one
‘
renery Were 800 pounds of phenols and cresols, 50 pounds of naphthalenes,
and more than 700 pounds of aliphatic hydrocarbons. One of the chemical
companies discharged a daily total of 335 pounds of two long-lived chlori—
nated hydrocarbons—l,1,2—trichloroethane and l,1,2,2—tetrachloroetbane—dre
'
latter a particularly toxic compound. The primitive state of our insight into
the chemical pollution of waterways is underscored by the fact that the com—
pounds identied from one petrochemical plant, one chemical company, and
_
the synthetic rubber company
could not have been predicted on the basis Of
__
the raw materials and products listed by the manufacturers. Thus, such
cannot be relied upon exclusively to identify organic pollutants in industrial
efuents.
.
_
»
]ust as investigative techniques are outdated, waste treatment techmques
in the chemical industries are
conventional ones
appropriate for sewage
As Dr. Keith pointed out, “Although-the mdustnal …:3
'
…
'
'
“
‘nwsblePovhon99
\/
likely to produce waste water, the Little study disclosed. Many of these 496
chemicals are known to have immediate or chronic toxic eiÏects, or are ca—
pable of inducing cancer in animal. or man. The major sources of these sub—
stances
are industrial enterprises including, in descending order of impor—
-
tance, chemical plants, petroleum plants, plastic manufacturing operations,
tar and gas plants, rubber factories, dye and tanning plants, ore processing
plants, textile factories, pulp mills, and pharmaceutical plants. Agriculture
contributed chemical pesticides, and domestic life added detergents.
The list of 496 organic chemicals found or suspected in waterways is by
no means complete. One hindrance to a comprehensive assessment of modern
chemcial pollution has been the historical empahsis on conventionaltests for
BOD levels and concentrations of suspended and dissolved solids which pro—
vide a rough measure of water quality but do not identify specic chemicals
that may be serious hazards to life even in small quantities. This problem was
stressed in a study reported in 1972 by Dr. Lawrence H. Keith of the National
Environment Research Center, Athens, Georgia [16]. Dr. Keith and other
EPA investigatorS studied the chemical compostion of samples from waste
discharges from seveplants: two petrochemical plants, one synthetic rubber
plant, two petroleur‘n
and two chemical companies; Th_e__in—
_
vestigators used gas chromatography—mass spectrometry to obtain What
amounted to chemical ngerprints indicative Of indiVidual chemicals -or
classes of chemicals. A total of 33 compounds were identied, only seven
which were included among the 496 diScussed in the
Althougha .
number of the 33 chemicals hadx toxic properties, their…ifrip‘act on
ment was uncertain. Nevertheless, EPAÏinvestigators concluded
discharge of more than 300 pounds of rtetrachloroethane and trièhlOroethaæ
from »oneof the chemical companies might
toxic effects on ma—
rine life in
Pôlycyclicaromàücs, such as indenes and naph— \\ <\°
thalenéS from
companies, might produce taste an
"
od0rpr6bl‘emS mdrmkmg Water. The daily waste output of 600 pounds of a
other £petr—ochemical plant were sufcient to cause possibl
oxygen? 1deÿletion in another small bayou. Total daily discharges from one
‘
renery Were 800 pounds of phenols and cresols, 50 pounds of naphthalenes,
and more than 700 pounds of aliphatic hydrocarbons. One of the chemical
companies discharged a daily total of 335 pounds of two long-lived chlori—
nated hydrocarbons—l,1,2—trichloroethane and l,1,2,2—tetrachloroetbane—dre
'
latter a particularly toxic compound. The primitive state of our insight into
the chemical pollution of waterways is underscored by the fact that the com—
pounds identied from one petrochemical plant, one chemical company, and
_
the synthetic rubber company
could not have been predicted on the basis Of
__
the raw materials and products listed by the manufacturers. Thus, such
cannot be relied upon exclusively to identify organic pollutants in industrial
efuents.
.
_
»
]ust as investigative techniques are outdated, waste treatment techmques
in the chemical industries are
conventional ones
appropriate for sewage
As Dr. Keith pointed out, “Although-the mdustnal …:3
'
…
'
'
“
‘nwsblePovhon99