Collaborative Study of the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP)

Abstract

The United States Environmental Protection Agency has developed a new procedure, the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP), to more effectively simulate the leaching of hazardous materials from waste disposed in an unsecured landfill. The procedure involves (1) an 18-h extraction of a sample with sodium acetate solution and (2) the subsequent analysis of the leachate for metals, pesticides, semivolatile organics, and volatile organic compounds. To validate the method for all but the volatile organic analytes, three waste samples at two different pH levels were sent to 23 different volunteer government and commercial laboratories for extraction and analysis. For validation of the TCLP procedure involving determination of volatile organic compounds, two fortified waste samples were distributed to each participating laboratory. The results and statistical analysis of this collaborative test are presented and discussed. These results indicate that the TCLP can be applied consistently by a diverse group of organizations for the analyses considered in this study.

Comparisons of metal leachability for various wastes by extraction and leaching methods

“…Generally, EP and TCLP methods yield similar leachate concentrations of metals. The study by Blackburn et al (1988), however, indicates that TCLP extracts more metals. The statistical mean TCLP leachate concentrations ranged from 1.0 to 3.0 times greater than those for EP test.…”

“…Many testing procedures have been developed to simulate the leaching processes of hazardous wastes in land®lls or natural environments in order to evaluate the possibility of human health hazard threats of tested wastes (ASTM, 1981;Federal Register, 1986;USEPA, 1986;Faellman, 1997). Comparisons of these suggested testing procedures, i.e., toxicity characteristic leaching procedures (TCLP), extraction procedure (EP), and American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) methods, for environmental sample analyses have been made elsewhere (Blackburn et al, 1988).…”

A syndrome of facial paralysis of dairy calves in the Franklin district of New Zealand

“…Fresh liver and kidney tested from two additional affected calves was 1.5 and 0.36 mg/kg from liver, and 0.87 mg/kg and 1.8 mg/kg from kidney. Slag substrate from the fl oor of the calf-rearing shed and from three lanes where it had been applied were tested, using the toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (Blackburn et al 1986). Leachable vanadium was detectable at 2 mg/kg from the fl oor of the calf-rearing shed (total vanadium = 15 mg/kg) but not from any of the lanes.…”

Evaluation of simple random, systematic and composite sampling methods for industrial waste analyses

“…Many testing procedures were developed to simulate the leaching processes of hazardous wastes in landfills or natural environments for evaluating the potency of posing human health hazards by the tested wastes [2][3][4]. Comparisons of these suggested testing procedures, i.e., EP (extraction procedures), TCLP (toxicity characteristics leaching procedure) and ASTM for environmental sample analyses were made elsewhere [5,6]. In most of these investigations, solid wastes with simple composition, for instance, disposed and solidified sludge, were commonly used [7].…”