{"id":958,"date":"2021-03-09T08:44:28","date_gmt":"2021-03-09T13:44:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/intranet.chemservice.com\/news\/?p=958"},"modified":"2021-03-09T08:50:44","modified_gmt":"2021-03-09T13:50:44","slug":"what-are-vocs-in-drinking-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intranet.chemservice.com\/news\/what-are-vocs-in-drinking-water\/","title":{"rendered":"What are Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC’s) in Drinking Water?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Volatile Organic Compounds<\/a> (1), known as VOCs, are a class of organic chemicals that evaporate into water or vaporize easily into normal air temperatures. Thousands of these carbon-containing chemicals have been manufactured for commercial, industrial, and residential use and can have a variety of harmful health and environmental effects. When VOCs are found in drinking water it is typically the result of human activity such as gasoline or oil spills, home septic tanks, hazardous waste dumps, or improper disposal of industrial solvents and cleaning agents.<\/p>\n

What are Common Volatile Organic Compounds Presented in the Water?<\/h2>\n

Commonly detected VOCs in drinking water include benzene (a constituent of gasoline), formaldehyde (found in the building and household products), trichlorethylene (used in septic system cleaners), and tetrachloroethylene (used in the dry-cleaning industry).<\/p>\n

Why are Liquid Organic Compounds Volatile?<\/h2>\n

VOCs have high vapor pressure at room temperature. This high vapor pressure correlates with a low boiling point and relates to the number of the sample\u2019s molecules in the surrounding air \u2013 this trait is known as volatility.<\/p>\n

How do you Test for Volatile Organic Compounds?<\/h2>\n

VOCs are measured by collecting samples between 5mL and 25mL and submitting for analysis in the laboratory, using techniques such as EPA Method 524.2 to ensure that nothing harmful or toxic is present at a lower detection limit.<\/p>\n

What is EPA Method 524.2?<\/h2>\n

While VOCs in large amounts can be identified through a rather sweet taste and a pleasant or strong odor, the only way to know the actual concentration in water is through sampling and testing. The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) Method 524.2 is used to measure the concentrations of VOCs in drinking water and other liquid samples and encompasses 84 volatile VOCs<\/a> (2). This method utilizes gas chromatography as well as mass spectrometry, which is considered a purge and trap method. Due to the complementary information these tests provide, they are used together to provide the most comprehensive profile of VOCs emitted from a site.<\/p>\n

Why are Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) Considered an Environmental Hazard?<\/h2>\n

VOCs are considered both indoor and outdoor pollutants and play a pivotal role in the creation of ground-level ozone. When found in the environment and soaked into the ground, VOCs can be carried into the depths of an aquifer, or a body of rock or sediment that is completely saturated, in the form of non-aqueous phase liquid<\/a> (3) (NAPL). NAPLs don\u2019t readily dissolve in water similarly to the oil in and oil and vinegar salad dressing, thus creating pollution such as smog and acid rain, and can stimulate diseases in plants, inhibit seed product, and hinder fertilization.<\/p>\n

How can Chem Service VOC Analytical Standards Help When Using EPA Method 524.2?<\/h2>\n

Public water supplies must provide drinking water that is in compliance with the maximum contaminant levels and while testing private water supplies are most often optional, it is important to regularly test your water supply for volatile organic compounds.<\/p>\n

Chem Service, Inc. manufactures and produces several volatile organic compounds tests in compliance with EPA Method 524.2<\/a> as well as high purity standards for use as reference materials and for other laboratory purposes. More than 95% of Chem Service\u2019s Standards Grade materials have a certified purity of 98.0% or greater and do not require purity corrections when preparing solutions for use with EPA, USTM, UST, and numerous other international methods. You can trust that Chem Service\u2019s high purity standards are a quality product.<\/p>\n

Click over to the home page chemservice.com<\/a> for more information on how you can order your detailed VOC test or call our seasoned staff at 1-800-452-9994 to discuss any questions regarding your needs and our products.<\/p>\n

Source<\/h4>\n
    \n
  1. The Environmental Protection Agency. What are volatile organic compounds (VOCs)? 2021. https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/indoor-air-quality-iaq\/what-are-volatile-organic-compounds-vocs#:~:text=Volatile%20organic%20compounds%20(VOCs)%20are,ten%20times%20higher)%20than%20outdoors<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  2. PDF The Environmental Protection Agency. \u201cMETHOD 524.2. MEASUREMENT OF PURGEABLE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS IN WATER BY CAPILLARY COLUMN GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY\/MASS SPECTROMETRY\u201d Revision 4.1 1995, https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/sites\/production\/files\/2015-06\/documents\/epa-524.2.pdf<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  3. PDF. Newell, Charles J.,Acree, Steven D., Ross, Randall R., Huling, Scott G. The Environmental Protection Agency. \u201cGround Water Issue: Light Nonaqueous Phase Liquids\u201d https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/sites\/production\/files\/2015-06\/documents\/lnapl.pdf<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Volatile Organic Compounds (1), known as VOCs, are a class of organic chemicals that evaporate into water or vaporize easily into normal air temperatures. Thousands of these carbon-containing chemicals have been manufactured for commercial, industrial, and residential use and can have a variety of harmful health and environmental effects. When VOCs are found in drinking […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":966,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[54],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/intranet.chemservice.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/958"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/intranet.chemservice.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/intranet.chemservice.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intranet.chemservice.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intranet.chemservice.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=958"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/intranet.chemservice.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/958\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":962,"href":"https:\/\/intranet.chemservice.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/958\/revisions\/962"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intranet.chemservice.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/intranet.chemservice.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intranet.chemservice.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intranet.chemservice.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}