Contamination spray drift samples

Untreated (control) soil is collected to determine the presence of substances that may interfere with the measurement of target analytes. Control soil is also necessary for analytical recovery determinations made using laboratory-fortified samples. Thus, basic field study design divides the test area into one or more treated plots and an untreated control plot. Unlike the treated plots, the untreated control is typically not replicated but must be sufficiently large to provide soil for characterization, analytical method validation, and quality control. To prevent spray drift on to the control area and other potential forms of contamination, the control area is positioned > 15 m away and upwind of the treated plot, relative to prevailing wind patterns. 

Soil samples collected from waste lands downwind and downhill from the Hood River orchard were analyzed for DDT and its analogs. The results indicated the extent to which spray drift during application and surface runoff during rainfall or irrigation had contaminated these areas with pesticides. The samples were collected at distances up to 200 yards from the edge of the orchard. The average DDT content of ten 0—6-inch samples was 2.64 p.p.m. (total of DDT plus isomers), with the range 0.36-8.3 p.p.m. On a pound per acre basis, this amounts to approximately 5 pounds of total pesticide per acre. 

Control field matrices are usually placed at the field site upwind and at a significant distance from the spray or re-entry area so as to avoid all obvious routes of contamination at the test site that may destroy the integrity of the control samples. However, the control matrices should not be placed so far away from the test site as to avoid any suspected contamination that might occur from drift or other sources of contamination. One may want to define better the conditions at the test site in order to interpret better the exposure data collected from the volunteers matrices. 

Since AAS is a ratio method, many instrumental errors (e.g. long-term source drift, small monochromator drifts) should cancel out, as 7 is ratioed to I . However, a stable uptake rate, or aspiration rate, is required. This falls as the viscosity of the solution sprayed is increased. Nebulizer uptake interferences can be minimized if the dissolved salts content of samples and standards is approximately matched. For example, when determining pg cm sodium levels in 2 M phosphoric acid, ensure that the standards are also dissolved in 2 M phosphoric acid, using a blank to check for contamination. 

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