1 THE HARMFUL EFFECTS OF PETROCHEMICALS ON THE ENVIRONMENT

2 By Greg Ruland; Updated April 25, 2017

3 https://sciencing.com/harmful-effects-petrochemicals-environment-8771898.html
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5 Petrochemicals are found in a wide array of household items, from plastic wrap and trash bags to plastic
6 bottles. Because humans rely so heavily on petrochemicals, their production is high, affecting the environment
7 via oil spills on land and sea and fossil fuel combustion emissions.
8 Petrochemicals at Sea
9 Large oil spills cause widespread damage in the marine environment. Intertidal habitats including rocky coasts,
10 sand flats, mudflats and salt marshes are particularly vulnerable according to the U.K. Marine Special Areas of
11 Conservation website. Oil coats the surface of the water as well as the sediment surfaces and vegetation
12 surfaces, smothering plant life and microbial life, which affects the rest of the food chain. Ocean animals are
13 poisoned and smothered as well. Large spills are lethal to coral reefs as well, according to the National Oceanic
14 and Atmospheric Administration.
15 Petrochemicals in the Atmosphere
16 Petrochemicals are created through the manipulation of fossil fuels. The burning of fossil fuels and
17 petrochemicals has significant negative impact on the environment. When burned, petrochemicals release
18 ash, nitrogen, sulfur and carbon into the atmosphere, contributing to smog and pollution, according to the
19 Environmental Literacy Council. When these chemicals combine with water vapor, they can cause acid rain.
20 Petrochemicals and Climate
21 According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, greenhouse gases created by the burning of
22 petrochemicals, which includes carbon dioxide, warm up the Earth by trapping heat in the atmosphere. The
23 effects of climate change and the possible warming of the planet include the rise of sea levels through the
24 melting of ice caps and glaciers, as well as potentially dramatic weather changes.
25 Petrochemicals and Local Ecosystems
26 Local ecosystems can be harmed by the extraction, utilization and transportation of petrochemicals, according
27 to the Environmental Literacy Council. By digging for coal and oil, large amounts of salt water are often
28 brought to the surface, causing potentially severe damage to the natural flora and fauna. Extraction can also
29 significantly change the environment itself through digging and exploration.
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32 WHAT IS THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS?
33 By Alecia M. Spooner
34 https://www.dummies.com/education/science/environmental-science/what-is-the-environmental-impact-of-
35 petroleum-and-natural-gas/
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37 What you know as oil is actually called petroleum or crude oil and may exist as a combination of liquid, gas,
38 and sticky, tar-like substances. Oil and natural gas are cleaner fuels than coal, but they still have many
39 environmental disadvantages.
40 The secret to fossil fuels’ ability to produce energy is that they contain a large amount of carbon. This carbon
41 is left over from living matter — primarily plants — that lived millions of years ago. Oil and natural gas are
42 usually the result of lots of biological matter that settles to the seafloor, where the hydrocarbons(molecules of
43 hydrogen and carbon), including methane gas, become trapped in rocks.
44 Petroleum sources are usually small pockets of liquid or gas trapped within rock layers deep underground
45 (often under the seafloor). Extracted crude oil is refined and used to manufacture gasoline (used in
46 transportation) and petrochemicals (used in the production of plastics, pharmaceuticals, and cleaning
47 products).
48 While some petroleum is found in gas form, the most common natural gas is methane. Methane usually
49 occurs in small amounts with petroleum deposits and is often extracted at the same time as the petroleum.
50 Natural gas can be found in certain rock layers, trapped in the tiny spaces in sedimentary rocks.
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52 [Like other resources, oil isn’t evenly distributed across the globe. The top oil-producing countries are Saudi
53 Arabia, Russia, the U.S., Iran, China, Canada, and Mexico. Together, these countries produce more than half of
54 the total oil resources in the world.]
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56 THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF DRILLING FOR OIL
57 Oil companies pump liquid oil out of the ground by using drilling rigs and wells that access the pockets of oil
58 resources. The oil fills the rock layers the way water fills a sponge — spreading throughout open spaces —
59 instead of existing as a giant pool of liquid.
60 This arrangement means that to pump out all the oil, drillers have to extend or relocate the wells after the
61 immediate area has been emptied. Oil drilling rigs set on platforms in the ocean to access oil reserves below
62 the seafloor must therefore employ a series of more technically complex drill rigs built to access oil reserves in
63 deeper water.
64 This figure illustrates some of the most commonly used ocean drilling rigs and platforms and the water depths
65 they’re most suited for.

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68 Oil is a cleaner fuel than coal, but it still has many disadvantages, such as the following:
69 • Refining petroleum creates air pollution. Transforming crude oil into petrochemicals releases toxins
70 into the atmosphere that are dangerous for human and ecosystem health.
71 • Burning gasoline releases CO2. Although oil doesn’t produce the same amount of CO2 that coal burning
72 does, it still contributes greenhouse gases to the atmosphere and increases global warming.
73 • Oil spills cause great environmental damage. Large oil spills sometimes occur during drilling,
74 transport, and use, which of course affect the surrounding environment. But these spills aren’t the only
75 risk.
76 Although large oil spills with catastrophic environmental effects — such as the 1989 Exxon Valdez in Alaska or
77 the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico — get the most media coverage, most of the oil spilled
78 into ecosystems is actually from oil that leaks from cars, airplanes, and boats, as well as illegal dumping.
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80 THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF FRACKING FOR NATURAL GAS
81 Natural gas is a relatively clean-burning fuel source — it produces approximately half the CO2 emissions that
82 coal burning produces — so demand for natural gas has increased in the last few decades as concerns grow
83 about carbon emissions and global warming.
 84 Now fuel producers are exploring natural gas in reservoirs separate from petroleum as sources of this fuel. To
85 release the gas from the rocks and capture it for use as fuel, companies use a method of hydraulic
86 fracturing, or fracking.
87
88 [Fracking for natural gas requires injecting a liquid mix of chemicals, sand, and water into the gas-bearing rock
89 at super high pressures — high enough to crack open the rock, releasing trapped gases. The gas is then
90 pumped out of the rock along with the contaminated water.]
91 The sand and chemicals are left behind in the rock fractures, leading to groundwater pollution and potentially
92 less stable bedrock. Currently scientists are concerned that earthquakes in regions of the Midwestern United
93 States that have never experienced earthquakes before are the result of wastewater from natural gas fracking
94 operations.
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96 A LOOK INTO THE PETROCHEMICALS INDUSTRY
97 Mukta M. Shukla and Ashok K. Shukla, January 10, 2012
98 https://www.americanlaboratory.com/914-Application-Notes/37318-A-Look-Into-the-Petrochemicals-
99 Industry/
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101 Petrochemicals are a vital part of our lives, and it is hard to imagine modern existence without them. In fact,
102 every part of our life today—from the food we eat to the household products we use, and the homes in which
103 we live—has its origins in the petroleum industry. Furthermore, in today’s world, petrochemical products,
104 which are chemical products made from fossil fuels such as petroleum (crude oil), coal, and natural gas, are
105 the foundation of the modern industry.
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107 Petrochemical-derived products
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109 Petrochemicals have enabled the creation of novel materials and products in countless manufacturing
110 industries and in other fields such as agriculture, communication, and transportation. In addition, most of the
111 tools on which we depend for daily existence—such as cars, computers, cell phones, children’s toys,
112 pesticides, fertilizers, household cleaning products, and pharmaceutical drugs—are derived from
113 petrochemicals.
114 According to the American Petroleum Institute (API), “The oil and natural gas industry is the backbone of the
115 American economy.” This industry provides and supports over 9 million American jobs and adds about $1
116 trillion to the U.S. economy (about 7.5% of GDP).
117 The U.S. petroleum industry was born about 150 years ago, in 1859. That discovery marked the beginning of
118 an era when this magical black fluid became the lifeblood of our civilization and changed the face of the earth
119 in a very short period of time. In merely a century after oil was struck, we went from riding horse-drawn
120 carriages to automobiles to planes to, finally, landing on the moon in 1969. Oil made America the world’s
121 richest superpower.
122 The basis of petrochemicals are fossilized fuels, which are formed from the anaerobic decomposition of plants
123 and animals that are buried in the earth’s crust and subjected to intense heat and pressure over hundreds of
124 millions of years. These fossil fuels, which remain the primary source of our energy needs today, are finite.
125 Based on the rapid global consumption of petroleum in the last century, some estimates suggest that we may
126 reach the peak of petroleum extraction by 2050.
127 Petrochemicals are classified into three main categories based on their chemical structure: 1) olefins, which
128 include ethylene, propylene, and butadiene, form the basis of industrial chemicals, plastic products, and
129 synthetic rubber; 2) aromatics, which include benzene, toluene, and xylene, are among raw materials for
130 products such as dyes and synthetic detergents, plastics, and synthetic fibers; and 3) synthesis gas, which is a
131 mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, is used to make ammonia and methanol. Ammonia is crucial for
132 the production of fertilizers, and methanol serves as an important solvent and raw material.
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134 Effect of petrochemical products on health and the environment
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136 Petroleum-derived chemicals can also be hazardous and toxic to the health of living beings and the earth’s
137 ecosystems. With the advent of more advanced research and sophisticated instruments, we are now able to
138 measure the presence and impact of petrochemicals and their derivatives on human physiology.
139 Many of these chemicals are released into the ground, and air, and water and can have adverse effects on our
140 environment and human life. Depending on their use, since petrochemicals can be absorbed through the skin
141 or might be ingested, they can accumulate in human tissues and organs such as the brain and liver and can
142 cause brain, nerve and liver damage, birth defects, cancer, asthma, hormonal disorders, and allergies. We are
143 still in the early days of understanding the adverse effects of petrochemicals on our health and environment.
144 For example, bisphenol A (BPA), which is used in many plastic-based products and to manufacture epoxy
145 resins, has been implicated in having an estrogenic effect on humans. It also plays a potential role in disturbing
146 the normal balance of other hormones in humans (such as the thyroid hormone) and can have a multitude of
147 health effects related to this. In recent years, BPA has gained increased attention since baby bottles made of
148 plastic can result in the ingestion of BPA by infants, leading to accumulation in tissues that can affect normal
149 development.
150 The latest analytical tools and platforms are critical for both manufacturing petrochemicals, as well as
151 understanding the effects of petrochemicals on living systems and the environment. Significant players in the
152 petrochemicals analysis space include companies that are focused on gas chromatography mass
153 spectrometry (GC-MS) and liquid chromatography-MS(LC-MS) such as Bruker, PerkinElmer, Thermo Fisher
154 Scientific, Agilent, Restek, and Waters. Other companies, such as Metrohm, OI Analytical, and Shimadzu,
155 provide innovative solutions for petrochemicals analysis.
156 As the concern over the safety of petrochemical products has increased, existing instrumentation companies
157 are providing analytical solutions to help address these challenges. For example, on its Web site,
158 Waters highlights the use of its technologies to identify 24 carcinogenic aromatic amines more rapidly than
159 conventional HPLC methods. As Waters states, “In compliance with global regulations, and in order to offer
160 consumers safer products, major textile and leather product manufacturers and retailers have issued product
161 certifications and QC protocols that limit the maximum amount of carcinogenic aromatic amines to no more
162 than 20 mg/kg. To be more cost effective, there are growing demands for faster and more accurate analytical
163 methods to test for these aromatic amines in consumer products.”
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165 Future of the petrochemicals industry
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167 While the latest analytical tools help identify the potential toxicities of petrochemicals, they also play an
168 important role in the future of the industry since they can be used to develop potentially safer petroleum-
169 derived products and novel materials.
170 There is no doubt that petrochemicals have revolutionized human civilization in the last century, enabling
171 leaps in innovation across industries and opening doors to new fields that could not have existed before. Yet,
172 as petrochemicals have permeated our lives, we are also coming to better understand the potentially harmful
173 ways in which they can permeate our bodies and ecosystems.
174 Thankfully, continuous innovations in the analytical instrumentation and tools space enable us to keep up with
175 the petrochemicals industry by monitoring its effects, especially the potentially harmful ones. Hopefully, in the
176 future, with the help of cutting-edge analytical technologies, we will be able to further harness the power of
177 petrochemicals to enable future innovations that continue to improve the world in which we live today.
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