Rapid field testing

Following rapid field testing, samples of the potentially contaminated air/water/ soil will be collected for potential lab analysis. The decision to send samples to a lab for analysis should be based on the outcome of the threat evaluation. If the threat is determined to be credible, then samples should be immediately delivered to the lab for analysis. The analytical approach for samples collected from the site should be developed with input from the supporting lab(s), based on information from the site characterization and threat evaluation. 

Two types of kits are discussed in this section, sample collection kits and field test kits. Sample collection kits will generally contain all sample containers, materials, supplies, and forms necessary to perform sample collection activities. Field test kits contain the equipment and supplies necessary to perform field safety screening and rapid field testing of the air, water, and/or soil. Sample collection kits will generally be less expensive to construct than field test kits. Sample collection kits can be pre-positioned throughout a system, while the more expensive field kits may be assigned to specific site characterization teams or personnel. 

In order to perform analysis of samples beyond rapid field testing, it will be necessary to properly package the samples for transport to the appropriate labs as quickly as possible. Prompt and proper packaging and transport of samples will... 

Steps an individual permit holder must take to use an alternate test procedure for regulatory reporting of specific discharges follow. An alternate test procedure differs from those published in the Federal Register for NPDES-certification purposes (Source Federal Register, Title 40, Chapter 1, Subchapter D, Part 136 Vol. 38, No. 199, Oct. 16, 1973 Vol. 41, No. 232, Dec. 1, 1976). Many Hach methods (Hach Company, Loveland, CO, USA) are identical to these published methods and thus are approved by USEPA and highly recommended by the authors for rapid field testing of effluent samples. 

Initially, the Tokyo Fire Department s HazMat Team conducted a rapid field test and reported to medical institutions that the causative agent was acetonitrile. However, this was incorrect. Fortunately, given the number of victims with mild to severe symptoms treated at St. Luke s International Hospital, acetonitrile poisoning was ruled out. However, some medical institutions that handled only severe cases, suspected cyanide poisoning and treated patients with antidotes to cyanide. 

Zhou, Z.F., Huang, Y. Rapid field test technique and method for determining anisotropic permeable parameters of rock mass. 11th Congress of the International Association for Engineering Geology and the Environment, Geologically Active, 2010 2627-2632. 

In field testing, there are many commercial products and instmments available that ate helphil in rapidly detecting, identifying, and quantifying micro organisms. 

Finally, it should be added that the extensive field tests made in the United States indicate that buried steel rusts less and less rapidly as time goes on, both as regards general attack and pitting. This can be illustrated by the typical results shown in Fig. 3.5. Field tests made in British soils by BISRA have not, however, exhibited the same tendency in these rusting has been roughly proportional to the duration of burial. 

Methods based on gravimetric analysis (Table 7.2) are also simple and rapid, but they suffer from the same limitations as those of infrared spectrometric methods (Table 7.2). Gravimetric-based methods may be useful for oily sludge and wastewaters, which will present analytical difficulties for other, more sensitive methods. Immunoassay methods for the measurement of total petroleum hydrocarbon are also popular for field testing because they offer a simple, quick technique for in situ quantification of the total petroleum hydrocarbons. 

A number of different testing kits based on immunoassay technology are available for rapid field determination of certain groups of compounds, such as benzene-toluene-ethylbenzene-xylene (EPA 4030) or polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (EPA 4035, Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons by Immunoassay). The immunoassay screening kits are self-contained portable field kits that include components for sample preparation, instrumentation to read assay results, and immunoassay reagents. 

Field tests are analytical tests that are normally carried out outside the laboratory (in the field ). Field tests for explosives are usually performed when a rapid, on-site diagnostic detection of explosive materials is required. Thus, they are often carried out on suspects hands and belongings, in post-explosion sites, or in border stations, seaports, and airports. It should be emphasized that they constitute only prehminary examinations, and positive results should not be presented to court unless confirmed by reliable laboratory methods. Because field tests are usually carried out by individuals with no scientific background, their application must be easy, involving simple equipment and methodology. 

Colorimetric field tests for TATP and HMTD were described in Section 5 dealing with peroxide-based explosives. This group contains Keinan s PEX [85] (E. Keinan, Personal Communication, February 2006) and the kit developed by Schulte-Ladbeck et al., which involves also a preliminary stage to avoid falsepositive responses by non-explosive peroxides [86]. The color change of molybdenum hydrogen bronze suspension upon reaction with TATP was recommended also as a field test. Exposure of filter paper strips which were soaked in butanol suspension of the molybdenum compound to TATP or hydrogen peroxide vapors rapidly bleaches the blue color [87, 88]. 

Since chemical reactions are accelerated by temperature increases, the recommendation is to store materials at the highest possible temperature consistent with practical limits—i.e.y 165°F., for the longest possible storage period. Storage data generated for liquid and slurry propellants are of two types (1) laboratory controlled experiments, and (2) field tests in hermetically sealed containers. The laboratory experiments provide for rapid and convenient determinations and are used primarily for comparing one propellant with another or for comparing the relative... 

Testing Foliage for Safe Insecticide Residue Levels Using the Rapid Field Method... 

The safe levels established for parathion + paraoxon, azinphosmethyl + azinphosmethyl oxon and methidathion + methi-dation oxon on foliage have absorbance values determined by the rapid field method (4 ) equal to those given in Table III. Absorbance values greater than those listed in Table III signal an unsafe working condition. Field testing can also be conducted by standard gas chromatographic analysis of the leaf disk samples by state-approved laboratories. 

Enzyme immunoassay kits are now available for qualitative field testing or for laboratory screening and semiquantitative analysis of pesticides, herbicides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), mononuclear and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, pentachlorophenol, nitroorganics, and many other compounds in aqueous and soil samples. Certain analytes may be quantitatively determined as well, with a degree of accuracy comparable to gas chromatography or high performance liquid chromatography determination. The method is rapid and inexpensive. 

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