Distribution characteristics and source of BTEX in groundwater in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, P. R. China

In order to find out the distribution characteristics of BTEX in groundwater, which include Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, p-Xylene, m-Xylene, and o-Xylene, 82 groups of groundwater samples and 10 surface water samples collected from Guangzhou in Guangdong during 2005 to 2008 were tested by gas chromatography and mass spectrum(GC/MS). The result showed that the BTEX concentration in groundwater does not exceed the standard. The detection rate of BTEX is 14.63% in groundwater, and the total BTEX concentration is lower than 9.5 μg/L. Of 6 kinds of BTEX, toluene had the highest detection rate (12.20%) and detection value (9.5 μg/L), which was followed by Benzene, with the detection rate of 3.65%, and detection value of 4.9 μg/L respectively; most of samples with BTEX are distributed in Huangpu district, Baiyun district, Huadu district and other industrialized areas; this spatial distribution and urban distribution have obvious consistency. With economic development, plant expansion and population growth led to a large amount of waste water discharge, and infrastructure construction is lagging behind, indicating that rapid urbanization is a major driving force of BTEX in groundwater, and through the analysis of a typical area, it is found that benzene system surface water infiltration was an important source of BTEX in groundwater of Guangzhou.