Environmental investigation of the old chemical industry

Abstract

Over the past 50 years, soil and groundwater contamination issues have been the object of great concern in the World and Brazil, especially in old industrial urban centers. Therefore, the objective of this research was to characterize quantitatively and qualitatively the environment of an old chemical industry, using soil and groundwater, and elaboration of the conceptual model of the area in light of the theoretical development of the contaminated areas over the past decades. The analytical results indicated the presence of ethylbenzene and total xylenes above the intervention values of CETESB/16 in the soil, and benzene, ethylbenzene, o-xylene, m,p-xylene, total xylenes, Total TPH (C8-C40) and 1,2-dichloroethane above comparative groundwater reference standards. Although no non-miscible aqueous phase (LNAPL) has been identified, this research pointed out that high concentrations indicate a fraction of residual or trapped contaminant in the saturated zone that continuously feeds groundwater, generating the dissolved plumes identified downstream and outside the boundaries of the terrain.