TOC meaning in Chemistry ?

Total organic carbon (TOC) is the amount of carbon found in an organic compound and is often used as a non-specific indicator of water quality or cleanliness of pharmaceutical manufacturing equipment. TOC may also refer to the amount of organic carbon in soil, or in a geological formation, particularly the source rock for a petroleum play; 2% is a rough minimum. For marine surface sediments average TOC content is 0.5% in the deep ocean, and 2% along the eastern margins.

A typical analysis for total carbon (TC) measures both the total organic carbon (TOC) present and the complementing total inorganic carbon (TIC), the latter representing the amount of non-organic carbon, like carbon in carbonate minerals. Subtracting the inorganic carbon from the total carbon yields TOC. Another common variant of TOC analysis involves removing the TIC portion first and then measuring the leftover carbon. This method involves purging an acidified sample with carbon-free air or nitrogen prior to measurement, and so is more accurately called non-purgeable organic carbon (NPOC).