Immobilization of Low Level Hazardous Organics Using Recycled Materials

Rust Remedial Services, Inc. (RRS) recently conducted a major study on the effectiveness of additives, both virgin and recycled, in the immobilization of low-level organics in soils. Using a clean soil spiked with a mixture of hazardous organic chemicals, twelve different stabilization formulations were comparatively tested using leaching (TCLP) and total analysis (TCA) methods. TCLP reduction levels illustrated the effectiveness of the stabilization treatment on a wide variety of low level organics in contaminated soil, with the proper selection of stabilization admixtures. A specially prepared, comminuted, rubber particulate was especially effective in reducing the apparent presence of certain semi-volatile organic compounds in soil, as measured by TCA methods. Most semi-volatile organic compounds were so strongly held by the rubber particles that they were not recovered in the analytical procedure.