Oxygenated Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds (Oxy-PAC) Occurrence at French Sites: Known Issues and Strategy for Investigations
Résumé
Polycyclic aromatic compounds (PAC), including PAH, are under focus since a few decades, but their polar equivalents (oxy-PACs are less known and neither monitored nor regulated anywhere, despite their potential harmfulness and greater mobility. They often occur at the same sites (gasworks, coke plants, wood treatment sites) as PAHs and other PACs but have been mostly overlooked. PAH remediation treatments, such as thermal desorption or chemical oxidation may have promoted the formation of oxy-PACs while applied, along with the mitigation of regulated PAHs. According to existing regulations, the site contamination level related to the sum of PAH was reduced, but the actual risk may have been increased. In order to identify potential risks, the monitoring of oxy-PACs is required. However, analytical capabilities are not developed, data on oxy-PACs are scarce and research is still needed. The present paper describes how existing contaminated site databases (in France BASOL and BASIAS) could be used to locate potentially oxy-PAC contaminated sites, select study sites, and verify the occurrence of oxy-PACs in soil and in shallow groundwater at pilot sites. Results are expected to support pre-normative and pre-regulatory investigations at the European level, and to help designing guidelines for sustainable remediation of PAH-contaminated sites.