TPH
TPHs are Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons and are the sum of all petroleum related hydrocarbon compounds present.
TPH compounds can be referred to as oil and grease, mineral oil, hydrocarbon oil and extractable hydrocarbons and are also identified by their Carbon number. Compounds of interest usually fall between C6 and C40. Hydrocarbons can be broadly split into aromatic and aliphatic compounds. The aromatic compounds all contain benzene rings and are considered to be more hazardous to human health than aliphatics.
TPHs originate from crude oil but as crude oil is used in a large number of products they can find their way into the environment in a number of ways but in particular from filling stations, fuel storage and fuel spillages.
NCA offer 3 different types of TPH analysis:
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Total TPH C8 to C40
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Banded TPH which gives GRO (Gasoline (Petrol) Range Organics) C8 to C10, DRO (Diesel Range Organics) C10 to C21 and MRO (Mineral Range Organics) C21 to C40
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Speciated or Fractionated TPH which gives C8 - C10, C10 - C12, C12 - C16, C16 - C21, C21 - C35 and C35 - C40 fractions split into aromatic and aliphatic compounds.
Exposure to TPHs can affect the central nervous system and some are thought to be carcinogenic.
NCA use a twin channel Shimadzu GC-FID for fast accurate turnaround of analyses for TPH.