QUANTITATIVE-DETERMINATION OF CHELATORS AND THEIR DEGRADATION PRODUCTS IN MIXED HAZARDOUS WASTES FROM TANK 241-SY-101 USING DERIVATIZATION GC MS/

Considerable attention has been focused on chelators such as ethylened iaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and N-(2-hydroxyethyl)ethylenediaminetri acetric acid (HEDTA), which form water-soluble complexes with most hea vy metals. Most radionuclides are included in this class of constituen ts. As a result, chelator complexes have become very important environ mentally because of their tendency to enhance the mobility of heavy me tals through the soil and potentially contaminate groundwater, In addi tion, there is a correlation between chelator concentration and crust formation/gas release, The chelators are a class of compounds whose lo w volatility and high polarity preclude analysis by gas chromatography /mass spectrometry (CC/MS) without prior derivatization. Waste samples from a double-shell storage tank at Hanford were derivatized with BF3 /methanol and analyzed using CC/MS. Results indicate the presence of E DTA, HEDTA, nitrilotriacetic (NTA), and citric acid. Nitrosoiminodiace tic acid was identified and determined to be an artifact of the deriva tization procedure; it is assumed to arise from nitrosation of iminodi acetic acid in the waste sample.