Identification of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Semi-Reinforcing Furnace Carbon Black

Abstract

A weighed amount of a "special" semi-reinforcing (SRF) carbon black, made in 1964 and not considered to be typical for furnace blacks, was extracted with triple distilled benzene for 24 hours. The separation of carcinogens from the benzene extract was achieved by gas chromatography on a 5 ft x 0.25 inch stainless steel column packed with 3% OV-1 on chromosorb W. The chromatogram yielded 20 peaks. These peaks were collected, eluted and identified by (a) comparison of retention times, (b) peak enhancement technique, and (c) comparison of their excitation and fluorescence spectra with those of known polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PCAH) standards. The PCAH's identified in SRF-carbon black were: anthracene, phenanthrene, fluoranthene, pyrene, benzo(mno)fluoranthene, chrysene, 1,2-benzanthracene, 9,10-dimethyl-1,2-benzanthracene, 1,2-benzopyrene, 3,4-benzopyrene, perylene, o-phenylene pyrene 1,2-benzoperylene, anthanthrene, and coronene. Of these, 1,1-benzanthracene, 9,10-dimethyl-1,2-benzanthracene, 3,4-benzopyrene and o-phenylene pyrene are known carcinogens. These and others have also been quantitated.

Comparison of Nonprecious Metal Cathode Materials for Methane Production by Electromethanogenesis

“…Carbon black, which was used in the preparation of most of the cathodes, usually contains polyaromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) impurities as a result of the manufacturing process. 27 Methanogenic degradation has been well documented for aliphatic 28 and aromatic 29 hydrocarbons for decades. Two-ringed PAHs were shown to be slowly transformed into methane in mixed cultures, 30,31 and more complex PAHs are likely to follow as predicted using thermodynamic calculations.…”