Environmental Enlightenment #183
By Ami Adini - February 19, 2008
This is a SHORT, LIGHT and SIMPLE newsletter. Its purpose is to rekindle in the initiated terminology they have once learned, and enlighten the uninitiated on terms they may have heard but never known the meaning of. |
Petroleum Hydrocarbon Compounds; Series 4
Benzene is a chemical that belongs in the petroleum family. It is a petroleum hydrocarbon because its molecular structure is a combination of hydrogen and carbon atoms: six carbons dancing in a ring holding hands and hydrogen toddlers holding to each of the dancers.
Benzene is an aromatic compound. Its earliest known naming as aromatic traces back to an article by August Wilhelm Hofmann in 1855 (Wikipedia).
The technical definition of aromatic is, hydrocarbon compound containing one or more benzene rings. |
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| For example, ethylbenzene is an aromatic. |
Toluene is another one:
And so is a subfamily of compounds called xylenes
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In dealing with petroleum contamination, the four most sought-for compounds are the four aromatics: benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes; or in short, the “BTEX” compounds. Benzene has been identified as a human carcinogen. Toluene, Ethylbenzene, and Xylenes can have major affects on the central nervous system.
BTEX compounds are notorious due to the contamination of soil and groundwater with these compounds. This typically occurs near petroleum production sites, refueling stations and other areas with Underground Storage Tanks (USTs) or Above-ground Storage Tanks (ASTs) containing gasoline or other petroleum-related products. |
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| Acknowledgement: Wikipedia |
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You can find past issues of "Environmental Enlightenment" at www.amiadini.com Wealth of information about environmental site assessments in the real estate transactions and issues concerning assessment and cleanup of contamination in the subsurface soil and groundwater. |
Call me if you've got any questions. There are no obligations.
Ami Adini
Ami Adini & Associates, Inc.
Environmental Consultants
Underground Storage Tank Experts
323-913-4073; 323-667-2336 fax
mail@amiadini.com
www.amiadini.com
Ami Adini is a mechanical engineer, California Registered Environmental Assessor, Level II, and president of AMI ADINI & ASSOCIATES, INC. (AA&A), an environmental consulting firm specializing in all phases of environmental site assessments, rehabilitation of contaminated sites and upgrading of underground storage tank facilities. AA&A supplies practical solutions to environmental concerns using the highest standards of ethics and integrity while providing its clients with maximum return on their investments.
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