Stability of volatile organics in environmental water samples: Storage and preservation

Technical Report · Tue Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1989

OSTI ID:5793138

Maskarinec, M P; Bayne, C K; Johnson, L H; Holladay, S K; Jenkins, R A

The purpose of this work was to establish the stability of volatile organic compounds in environmental water samples. The stability of common volatile organic compounds was determined in three types of waters, distilled water, a groundwater, and a surface water. Two concentration levels were studied: nominally 50 {mu}g/L and 500 {mu}g/L. Samples were stored at two conditions, room temperature and under refrigeration (4{degree}C). Samples were analyzed at intervals of 0, 3, 7, 14, 28, 56, 112, and 365 days. The data from this study indicates that most volatile organic compounds are stable in water for longer than 365 days. Exceptions to this statement include compounds prone to dehydrohalogenation (e.g., 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane) and compounds prone to biological degradation, particularly the volatile aromatics. The stability of the compounds was matrix dependent and storage condition dependent. Within the limits of this study, the minimum holding time for an environmental water sample prior to analysis for volatile organic compounds is about ten days, although for most of the compounds, stability is not a problem up to 365 days. Because of the fact that the degradation observed in this study could apparently be controlled by preservation with acid, a second study was conducted comparing three acids for preservation of the samples. The same three water matrices were studied. Samples were preserved with hydrochloric acid (HCl), sodium bisulfate, and ascorbic acid. For the most part, all three acids effectively reduced the degradation and preserved the samples. 13 refs., 46 figs., 53 tabs.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOD; EPA
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OR21400
• OSTI ID: 5793138
• Report Number(s): ORNL/TM-11300; ON: DE89016916
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

500200 -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
520200* -- Environment
Aquatic-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
DOCUMENT TYPES
GROUND WATER
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PROGRESS REPORT
SAMPLING
STABILITY
SURFACE WATERS
TESTING
TIME DEPENDENCE
WATER