Sample handling and shipment

3 Sample handling and shipment 3.3.1 Prevention of cross-contamination 

A clean sampler should be used at different sampling points in order to prevent contamination as described earlier. A borer with a liner is recommended to minimize contamination. Using this type of sampling device, only the liner is exchanged. When a borer has to be re-used, it should be thoroughly washed and rinsed with distilled water. Other sampling instruments are dealt with in the same manner. 

Special care is required to prevent contamination with surface soil when the sediment is collected to study the vertical distribution of a pesticide. The method described earlier (Section 3.1.1) is strongly recommended. 

The sample water container should be made of appropriate materials to avoid adsorption of the chemical of interest on the vessel surfaces. In most cases, a glass bottle may be better than a plastic bottle. The bottle is washed with an organic solvent in advance and also washed with sample water just before sampling. The bottle should be tilled to the limit with water and capped tightly with a Teflon seal to prevent contamination. The top 1-cm of water is not taken to prevent the mixing of floating materials such as oil. 

Sample soil or sediment is put into polyethylene bags or glass containers and sample water into bottles as mentioned above. 

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Sample handling and shipment. Once collected, all samples were immediately double-bagged, placed on dry-ice and then transported to field headquarters where... 

To fortify a sample, the label from a fortification sampling vial was removed and secured to the pre-labeled sample jar. Spike vials were individually shaken before use. The cap was discarded, the contents of the vial were poured into the sample jar and then the vial was dropped into the sample. The sample jar was capped with a Tefion-lined lid, hand shaken to mix, placed in a Kapak bag and sealed. Jars were placed immediately in storage freezers. In all cases, quality control samples were transported and stored with their corresponding field plot samples throughout sample handling and shipment to the analytical facility. 

The collection of equipment blank samples increases the total cost of sample handling and shipment. 

Samples must be carefully labeled as they are taken. Labels must tell where, when, and how they were taken and include reference to the field notebook page where they are described. One other effective method of labeling is to use bar codes for each sample. This facilitates sample handling and decreases misidentification of samples. Bar codes can be generated in the field and attached to samples before shipment. 

B3 Sample handling and custody 3.2 Sample custody and tracking 3.3 Sample preservation techniques 3.4 Sample packaging and shipment 3.8 Equipment decontamination... 

The sampling took place between August 16 and 24, 1983. Most of the 274 samples collected for shipment to contract laboratories were to be analyzed for the purpose of more fully delineating contamination boundaries. Other samples were collected for comparing sample collection and handling techniques. 

The analytical protocols and the handling and data security protocols are extremely important. I recently was reminded that if you have to ship samples to another country for analysis, that may require additional time, additional expense, and the customs, agriculture, and drug enforcement officials may want to thoroughly inspect your shipment thoroughly. Your laboratory may also require a special license to handle soil and water samples from out of the country. The logistics cannot be ignored, except at your peril. 

While the COA is the excipient manufacturer s responsibility, once the material is received, it is the drug product manufacturers responsibility to verify the product and ensure that it is properly tested, handled, and stored. Upon receipt of a shipment, each lot of excipient will be withheld from use until the lot is sampled, tested, or examined according to the written procedures. The quality control (QC) personnel will examine each container for (i) manufacturer s name, (ii) manufacturer s lot number, (iii) leaks or spills, (iv) contamination, (v) breached containers, (vi) proper labeling, and (vii) material safety data sheet and determined material hazards. 

Blank samples are used to determine if any contamination has occurred during sample handling. Prepare two blanks for the first 1 to 20 samples. For sets containing greater than 20 samples, prepare blanks as 10% of the samples. Handle blank samples in the same manner as air samples with one exception Do not draw any air through the blank samples. Open the blank cassette in the place where the sample cassettes are mounted on the employee. Hold it open for about 30 seconds. Close and seal the cassette appropriately. Store blanks for shipment with the sample cassettes. 

For CDU analyses, the cup is swirled gently to resuspend any solids, and the 15-ml tube is filled with 10-12 ml urine. The CDC recommends the addition of 100 pi concentrated HNO3 as a preservative before sealing the tube and then freezing the sample. The CTQ recommends minimal handling and does not acidify their interlaboratory urine reference materials prior to shipment, nor do they freeze the sample for shipment. At the CTQ, if the urine sample has much sediment, the sample is acidified in the lab to free any cadmium in the precipitate. 

RAC samples from a processing study should be handled exactly as RAC samples from a field residue trial. They should be frozen as soon as possible following collection. Once the processing commodities have been created, they should be frozen and shipped to the analytical lab as quickly as possible. Both the RAC samples and processed samples from a processing study must remain frozen throughout the shipment and storage period of the study in order to preserve residue integrity. 

Communication between field personnel is especially important when samples need to be shipped or transported from the field to the laboratory (Eskenazi et al. 2003). A system of e-mail or telephone messages and confirmations should be established with backup contacts to avoid missed shipments or improper handling on arrival. 

A prerequisite for accurate destructive analysis is a strict representativity of the sample, when it is taken, and its proper conservation during its handling at the plant and its shipment to the analytical laboratory. If the purpose of the sampling is to verify material accountability, the... 

Screening of incoming environmental samples is performed to obtain information that will guide the further detailed analysis and to assist in the shipment of samples to the NWAL. Samples that are known to be radioactive for the pmposes of shipment from the field to the IAEA are delivered directly to the nuclear laboratory of SAL for screening and archival storage because the CL is not licensed to handle such materials. All samples known to be below the limits for radioactive shipment purposes are delivered to the CL where they are screened. 

Secure and handle that samples in such that they will not rattle during shipment nor be exposed to static electricity. Do not ship samples in expanded polystyrene peanuts, vermiculite, paper shreds, or excelsior. Tape sample cassettes to sheet bubbles and place in a container that will cushion the samples in such a manner that they will not rattle. 

Task related surveys should generally be conducted to supply information about a particular task or operation (e.g. maintenance of equipment, handling of samples, shipment of spent fuel) and to provide, if necessary, a basis for immediate decisions on the execution of the task. 

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