How low can we go?
The accuracy of any environmental data has both financial and legal impact on clients. Today`s environmental community demands a significant level of confidence in the form of documented quality assurance/quality control. The purpose of this paper is to document the effort undertaken to incorporated US EPA SW-846 Method 8260 into a production environment. To fully implement an effective system, the current set-up a sixteen position concentrator/autosampler connected to a HP Mass Selective Detector(MSD) equipped with a Vectra software system required modification in the introduction of samples, purge and desorb times, and temperature requirements. The addition of acetates, ethers, and ketones to the standard cocktail also required further method development to achieve the desired lower levels of sensitivity. Volatile organic compound identification and quantitation can be accomplished by both gas chromatography (GC) and Gas chromatography/Mass spectrometry (GC/MS) techniques. Current volatile organic analysis utilize older technology, exhibit co-elution problems and discourage the addition of environmentally sensitive compounds. Method 8260 has allowed them the flexibility to use state of the art materials which incorporated shorter run times (newer column phases), improved vacuum systems, and better control of purge and trap equipment, all of which offer the potential for expansion of the standard list of analytes. Although the procedures are documented, investigation into modifying operating conditions and selection of peripheral material is essential to optimize the system.
- OSTI ID:
- 69845
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-941189--; ISBN 1-56590-016-2
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Soil gas sample analysis method evaluation and comparison
Comparison of two integrated methods for the collection and analysis of volatile organic compounds in ground water