Stabilization/Solidification of Wastes Containing Volatile Organic Compounds in Commercial Cementitious Waste Forms

Stabilization/solidification (S/S) is one of the most widely used techniques for waste treatment and remedial actions, but does not have regulatory approval for treating organics. Application with volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is particularly controversial since it was believed that the necessary mechanical mixing and exothermic cementitious reactions would vaporize the VOCs. The objective of this study was to establish whether S/S is a viable alternative for a sludge heavily contaminated (about 1%) with relatively immobile metals, but lightly contaminated (<0.04%) with VOCs that were contaminating the groundwater. The mass balance indicated that >50% of the VOCs were retained in the laboratory preparation of cementitious samples cured for 28 days. The performance tests indicated the commercial products could attain leachability indices from 7 to >9 for the eight VOCs studied and distribution coefficients of > 10 could be attained for all eight and > 100 for some compounds.