Road vehicle fuelling, service and repair - garages, filling stations and service stations

• Garages - where the primary aim is the servicing, repair and rebuilding of motor vehicles. Sales of motor fuel (petrol, diesel, etc) may represent only a small proportion (if any) of the total turnover.
• Filling stations - where the sale of motor fuel is the main part of the business. No repair services are provided. Fuel is normally stored in underground tanks of varying capacity.
• Service stations - establishments that both sell motor fuel and provide facilities for servicing vehicles and minor running repairs. Other 'value-added' services such as car washes and forecourt convenience stores may also be provided. The profile currently excludes contaminants associated with the growing electric vehicle and hydrogen vehicle markets.

A separate profile addresses private bus companies, road haulage contractors and other large businesses which maintain their own repair facilities and fuel storage depots (Road vehicle fuelling, service and repair: transport and haulage centres).

Potential Contaminants of Concern:

Contaminant type	Main group of contaminants	Location
		Fuelling areas	Workshops	Vehicle washing areas	Paint shops
Organic	Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)	•	•		•
	Halogenated hydrocarbons		•		•
	Non-halogenated hydrocarbons	•	•	•	•
	Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)	•	•
	Dioxins and furans
	Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)
	Pesticides and herbicides
	Organometallic compounds	•	•		•
	Explosives
	Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)			•
	Persistent organic pollutants (POPs)			•
Inorganic	Metals	•	•		•
	Non-metals and common inorganic substances	•	•	•	•
	Asbestos		•
	Cyanides
	Radionuclides
Other potential contaminants of concern		Ether oxygenates (e.g. MTBE, ETBE, TAME), ethanol, AdBlue, glycols, lubricants, coolants and hydraulic oils . See original Industry Profile for additional information.

 

Original Industry Profile: 

• Industry profile (searchable) - road vehicle - garages and filling stations

Further Information Sources:

• Concawe (multiple documents)
• Concawe - Gasoline ether oxygenate occurrence in Europe, and a review of their fate and transport characteristics in the environment (2012)
• Concawe - Review of End-Of-Life Management Options for Refinery Equipment and Lubricants/Greases Potentially Containing PFAS (2024)
• Glüge et al., An overview of the uses of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) (doi.org/10.1039/D0EM00291G) (2020)
• Rudland et al., Before you dig: What's beneath your feet? Garages and Filling Stations - A Guide for Developers (EPIC) (2023)
• Bowers and Smith, Constituents of potential concern for human health risk assessment of petroleum fuel releases. (doi.org/10.1144/qjegh2014-005) (2014)
• US EPA - Fuel Oxygenates and USTs

Related Industry Profiles:

• Industry profile (searchable) - Chemical works: soap and detergent manufacturing works
• Industry profile (searchable) - Engineering works: vehicle manufacturing works
• Oil refineries and bulk storage of crude oil and petroleum products
• Industry profile (searchable) - Road vehicle fuelling, service and repair: transport and haulage centres