ISO 17183:2016

INTERNATIONAL ISO
STANDARD 17183
First edition
2016-04-01
Soil quality — Screening soils for
isopropanol-extractable organic
compounds by determining
emulsification index by light
attenuation
Qualité du sol — Analyse rapide des sols pour les composés
organiques extractibles à l’isopropanol en déterminant l’indice
d’émulsification par l’atténuation de la lumière
Reference number
©
ISO 2016
© ISO 2016, Published in Switzerland
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ii © ISO 2016 – All rights reserved

Contents Page
Foreword .iv
Introduction .v
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 2
4 Principle . 2
4.1 General . 2
4.2 Interferences or other surfactants . 2
5 Reagents . 2
6 Apparatus . 2
7 Procedure. 3
7.1 Calibration . 3
7.2 Sample preparation . 3
7.3 Measurement . 3
7.4 Calculation . 4
7.5 Report . 4
8 Quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) . 4
9 Test report . 4
Annex A (informative) Examples of turbidity indexes for various kinds of organic compounds .6
Annex B (normative) Schematic procedure of the method and its analytical conditions .7
Annex C (informative) Results on an interlaboratory test for determination of an
emulsification index by light attenuation to screen soils for isopropanol-
extractable organic compounds . 8
Bibliography .11
Foreword
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The committee responsible for this document is ISO/TC 190, Soil quality, Subcommittee SC 3, Chemical
methods and soil characteristics.
iv © ISO 2016 – All rights reserved

Introduction
Light attenuation due to light scattering/absorption by emulsions can be used to screen for a variety of
isopropanol-extractable organic substances such as total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH). This is one of
the main organic contaminants of many contaminated land sites.
Petroleum hydrocarbons do not typically have many functional groups or contain any hetero-atoms
that are easily detected in common analytical procedures. When the non-polar nature of organic
compounds is targeted, as in this proposed method, turbidity/emulsification is produced by a number of
organic compounds including BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes); PNAs (poly-nuclear
aromatics); fuels; oils and greases that frequently are found at contaminated land sites.
This method can be used for screening soil samples to estimate the total amount of recoverable
petroleum hydrocarbon contamination in soil including a wide range of fuels, oils, and greases. The
emulsification approach in this method is incorporated to rapidly screen soil samples using a system
calibrated with the organic substance present on the investigated site. If the contaminant is unknown,
commercially available diesel oil can be used for calibration. This makes turbidity/emulsification
analysis a very versatile analytical method that can be used on most hydrocarbon/non-polar organic
substance spills without prior knowledge of the exact BTEX or PNA content or composition of the
contaminant. This method is more sensitive to non-polar heavier organic compounds from jet fuel to
oils and greases, but less sensitive to more volatile and lighter hydrocarbon fuels. A turbidity analysis
assists the user in recognizing the contamination by non-polar organic compounds at a given site.
This International Standard describes the procedure for on-site soil screening of organic compounds
using emulsification and light attenuation due to light scattering/absorption analysis.
INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO 17183:2016(E)
Soil quality — Screening soils for isopropanol-extractable
organic compounds by determining emulsification index
by light attenuation
1 Scope
This International Standard specifies the procedure to screen highly contaminated soils to detect
organic compounds extractable with isopropanol, including a wide range of fuels, oils, and greases.
The method is useful for finding hot spots. It is applicable both in laboratories and for site screening
in the field. The working range is approximately 0,01 to 0,3 in absorbance units, corresponding to
approximately 500 mg/kg to 10 000 mg/kg of isopropanol-extractable organic compounds in soil.
The light attenuation due to light scattering/absorption approach in this method is designed to quickly
screen soil samples using calibration with the most appropriate substance(s) likely to be present on a
given site to indicate the concentration levels.
This screening technique is applicable for a broad spectrum of organic compounds, mainly
hydrocarbons. Organic compounds are a very broadly defined mixture of compounds, which show their
own specific emulsification indices (see Annex A) and a gross emulsification index in a mixture sample,
defined primarily by their insolubility in water. The more insoluble the compounds (e.g. non-polar
compounds), the higher the response. Hydrocarbons are generally less-reactive and have little polarity.
Determination of emulsification indexes uses their non-polar nature to detect organic compounds
including a wide range of hydrocarbons from about C to about C .
8 36
NOTE This method can also be applied to biological substances such as vegetable oils.
This method is not applicable for determination of specific organic compounds or groups of compounds
that may be part of a larger organic compound mixture. As with other screening techniques, it is
advisable to confirm a certain percentage of both positive and negative test results, especially when
near or above a regulatory action limit or when the presence of background or when interfering organic
compounds such as surface active substances are suspected to be present.
This method does not address the evaporation of any volatile organic compound mixtures (i.e.,
gasoline) during sampling, preparation and detection. Although the screening method can be used
for the quantitative detection of volatile hydrocarbons, it is not intended that the method be used for
the quantitative determination of volatile petroleum hydrocarbons unless evaporation during sample
handling is addressed; the response factor be appropriately corrected, or the method performance be
demonstrated on real samples.
If emulsifiers or surface active substances (e.g. detergents) are present, significantly negatively-biased
or false negative results can be obtained. If there is any evidence for the presence of surfactances in the
soil, this method cannot be applied.
2 Normative references
The following documents, in whole or in part, are normatively referenced in this document and are
indispensable for its application. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated
references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
ISO 11074, Soil quality — Vocabulary
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