Handbook of Solvents - George Wypych - ChemTech - Ventech!

1170 J Devillers, A Chezeau, A Cicolella, E Thybaud
sical analytical methods routinely used for detecting the environmental pollutants do not
provide reliable results with the glycol ethers, especially in the aquatic environments.
Under these conditions, the aim of this chapter is to review the available literature on
the occurrence, environmental fate, and ecotoxicity of glycol ethers.
17.3.2 OCCURRENCE
Despite the poor applicability of the most widely used USEPA analytical methods, some
ethylene, diethylene, and triethylene glycol ethers have been reported as present in
Superfund hazardous waste sites in the US more often than some of the so-called priority
pollutants. 6 More specifically, Eckel and co-workers 6 indicated that in Jacksonville
(Florida), a landfill received a mixture of household waste and wastes from aircraft maintenance
and paint stripping from 1968 to 1970. In 1984, sampling of residential wells in the
vicinity revealed concentrations of 0.200, 0.050, and 0.010 mg/l of diethylene glycol diethyl
ether, ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, and diethylene glycol monobutyl ether, respectively.
One year later, concentrations of 0.050 to 0.100 mg/l of diethylene glycol
diethyl ether were found in the most contaminated portion of the site. In 1989, some samples
still indicated the presence of diethylene glycol diethyl ether and triethylene glycol
dimethyl ether. This case study clearly illustrates that glycol ethers may persist in the environment
for many years after a contamination. Concentrations of 0.012 to 0.500 mg/l of ethylene
glycol monobutyl ether were also estimated in residential wells on properties near a
factory (Union Chemical, Maine, USA) manufacturing furniture stripper containing
N,N-dimethylformamide. In addition, in one soil sample located in that site, a concentration
of 0.200 mg/kg of ethylene glycol monobutyl ether was also found. In another case study,
Eckel and co-workers 6 showed that ethylene glycol diethyl ether was detected with estimated
concentrations in the range from 0.002 to 0.031 mg/l in eight residential wells adjacent
to a landfill (Ohio) receiving a mixture of municipal waste and various industrial
wastes, many of them from the rubber industry. Last, ethylene glycol monomethyl ether
was detected in ground-water samples at concentrations of 30 to 42 mg/l (Winthrop landfill,
Maine). 6
In 1991, the high resolution capillary GC-MS analysis of a municipal wastewater collected
from the influent of the Asnières-sur-Oise treatment plant located in northern suburban
Paris (France) revealed the presence of ethylene glycol monobutyl ether (0.035 mg/l),
diethylene glycol monobutyl ether (0.015 mg/l), propylene glycol monomethyl ether (0.070
mg/l), dipropylene glycol monomethyl ether (0.050 mg/l), and tripropylene glycol
monoethyl ether (