Composition and method of screening hydrocarbons to limit potential toxicological hazards

A method of characterizing a hydrocarbon stream, said method comprising:

• providing a hydrocarbon stream;
• conducting 2-dimensional gas chromatography (2D-GC) analysis to quantify saturates and aromatic distribution in the hydrocarbon stream;
• identifying 2-8 ring aromatic distribution and weight percentage of 2-8 ring aromatic molecules in the hydrocarbon stream from the 2D-GC analysis;
• wherein the 2-8 ring aromatic distribution comprises mono alkylated aromatic molecules and multi alkylated aromatic molecules;
• and
• relating the weight percentage of 2-8 ring aromatic molecules in the hydrocarbon stream from the 2D-GC analysis with a mutagenicity index (MI), wherein the MI is determined in accordance with ASTM Standard Method E 1687.

A method of screening a hydrocarbon stream for potential toxicological hazards, said method comprising:

• providing a hydrocarbon stream;
• conducting high detail hydrocarbon analysis (HDHA) to quantify saturates, heteroatom and aromatic distribution in the hydrocarbon stream;
• identifying a 2-8 ring aromatic distribution and weight percentage of 2-8 ring aromatic molecules in the hydrocarbon stream from the analysis;
• wherein the 2-8 ring aromatic distribution comprises mono alkylated aromatic molecules and multi alkylated aromatic molecules;
• relating the weight percentage of 2-8 ring aromatic molecules in the hydrocarbon stream from the HDHA analysis to a mutagenicity index (MI), wherein the MI is determined in accordance with ASTM Standard Method E 1687;
• and
• assessing a potential toxicological hazard of the hydrocarbon stream based on the weight percentage of 2-8 ring aromatic molecules in the hydrocarbon stream from the 2D-GC analysis and a MI threshold value.