Losses from volatilization

Dry ashing is still the simplest prior treatment and should be used where high temperature ashing is feasible. A comparison of wet ashing and HTA was made for nine elements. The results indicate no appreciable loss from volatilization (Table III). 

Losses from volatilization of the analyte can be minimized by restricting the temperature at which ashing takes place. For determination of lead, copper, zinc, cadmium, and iron in foodstuffs, for example, good recoveries of the analytes were obtained by heating the samples slowly to 450°C and holding this temperature for 1 hour. A collaborative study showed no significant losses of the analytes under these ashing conditions [94],... 

Stable in water at pH 5 to 9 for 30 days at 21°C. Degradation is primarily via microbial breakdown, with little loss from volatilization or photodegradation. ti/2 (soil) 2 to 3 weeks (aerobic conditions) or 6 to 8 months (anaerobic conditions) Stable at pH 6, rapidly hydrolyzed at pH 9 and slowly at pH 3 (ti/2 9 days). 

Cyanide seldom persists in surface waters owing to complexation or sedimentation, microbial metabolism, and loss from volatilization. 

Sample Preservation Without preservation, many solid samples are subject to changes in chemical composition due to the loss of volatile material, biodegradation, and chemical reactivity (particularly redox reactions). Samples stored at reduced temperatures are less prone to biodegradation and the loss of volatile material, but fracturing and phase separations may present problems. The loss of volatile material is minimized by ensuring that the sample completely fills its container without leaving a headspace where gases can collect. Samples collected from materials that have not been exposed to O2 are particularly susceptible to oxidation reactions. For example, the contact of air with anaerobic sediments must be prevented. 

Solventless Extrusion Process. The solvendess process for making double-base propellants has been used ia the United States primarily for the manufacture of rocket propellant grains having web thickness from ca 1.35 to 15 cm and for thin-sheet mortar (M8) propellant. The process offers such advantages as minimal dimensional changes after extmsion, the elimination of the drying process, and better long-term baUistic uniformity because there is no loss of volatile solvent. The composition and properties of typical double-base solvent extmded rocket and mortar propellant are Hsted ia Table... 

Volatilization. The susceptibility of a herbicide to loss through volatilization has received much attention, due in part to the realization that herbicides in the vapor phase may be transported large distances from the point of application. Volatilization losses can be as high as 80—90% of the total applied herbicide within several days of application. The processes that control the amount of herbicide volatilized are the evaporation of the herbicide from the solution or soHd phase into the air, and dispersal and dilution of the resulting vapor into the atmosphere (250). These processes are influenced by many factors including herbicide application rate, wind velocity, temperature, soil moisture content, and the compound s sorption to soil organic and mineral surfaces. Properties of the herbicide that influence volatility include vapor pressure, water solubility, and chemical stmcture (251). 

Fixed-roof atmospheric tanks require vents to prevent pressure changes which would othei wise result from temperature changes and withdrawal or addition of liquid. API Standard 2000, Venting Atmospheric and Low Pressure Storage Tanks, gives practical rules for vent design. The principles of this standard can be applied to fluids other than petroleum products. Excessive losses of volatile liquids, particularly those with flash points below 38°C (100°F), may result from the use of open vents on fixed-roof tanks. Sometimes vents are manifolded and led to a vent tank, or the vapor may be extracted by a recov-eiy system. 

Analysis of soils is an important task in the environmental researches. Reliability of ICP-MS results of soil analysis mainly depends on chemical sampling. Recently microwave systems are widely used for preparation of different samples. Influence of microwave radiation on sample ensures a complete decomposition of sample, greatly increases the mineralization, and allows possible losses of volatile elements to be minimized. In the given study to intensify decomposition of soils we applied the microwave sample preparation system MULTIWAVE (Anton Paar, Austria and Perkin-Elmer, USA) equipped with rotor from 6 autoclaves with TEM reaction chambers of 50 ml volume. 

Next, we attempted to deal with translocation of foliar-applied TCDD. Labeled dioxins were applied to the center leaflet of the first trifoliate leaf of 3-week-old soybean plants and the first leaf blade of 12-day-old oat plants. All compounds were applied in an aqueous surfactant solution (Tween 80) to enhance leaf adsorption and to keep the water insoluble dioxins in solution. Plants were harvested 2, 7, 14, and 21 days after treatment, dissected into treated and untreated parts, and analyzed separately. Neither dioxin nor chlorophenol was translocated from the treated leaf. A rapid loss of the dichlorodioxin and dichlorophenol occurred from the leaf surface. This loss may have resulted from volatilization. Very little TCDD was lost from soybean leaves while a gradual loss (38% in 21 days) did occur from oat leaves. 

Mercury in soil is not only likely to have a different potential for evasion and methylation than Hg in runoff, but soil Hg may be perturbed by land disturbance. Land disturbances that are particularly relevant to Hg cycling include the formation of wetlands and flooding of reservoirs (Rudd 1995 see Chapter 3). Disturbances such as clear-cutting can also result in marked increases in the release of THg and MeHg from soils (Munthe and Hultbeig 2003 Porvari et al. 2003). Fire can result in large Hg losses by volatilization (Grigal 2002). 

In the case of vanadium, the suboxide, vanadium monoxide, would be more volatile than carbon monoxide except at very high carbon concentrations in the metal. The removal of the residual oxygen from this metal by carbon deoxidation is, therefore, difficult. In the case of niobium and tantalum, the partial pressure of carbon monoxide is higher than that of niobium monoxide or tantalum monoxide, even when the residual carbon concentration in the metal is as low as 200 ppm. It may therefore be expected that practically all the oxygen would be removed by evaporation of carbon monoxide without any metal loss from niobium and tantalum metals containing both oxygen and carbon. 

As diffusion to the surface of a polymer is one of the limiting steps in extraction, the particle size or film thickness of a sample is also important [278,333,337-340]. With the typical diffusion coefficients of additives in polymers a particle diameter of about 0.3 mm is required for an extraction time of about 1000 s at 40 °C. An exception to this is the extraction of thin films and foams, for which the shortest dimension is small. It is not surprising that no more than 50 % of antioxidants could be extracted from PP pellets as opposed to 90 % recoveries from the same polymer extruded into film [341]. Grinding of the polymer is usually an essential step before extraction. Care should be taken to avoid loss of volatile additives owing to the heat generated in such processes. Therefore, cryogrind-ing is preferred. 

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