Sample collection

A sample collected at random from the target population. 

Samples collected from the target population using available information about the analyte s distribution within the population. 

Example of a systematic sampling plan for collecting samples from a lake. Each solid dot represents a sample collected from within the sampling grid. 

The initial sample, collected from the target population without any processing. 

Sample Collection Solids are usually heterogeneous, and samples must be collected carefully if they are to be representative of the target population. As noted earlier, solids come in a variety of forms, each of which is sampled differently. 

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. 

Delumyea and McCleary report data for the determination of %w/w organic material in sediment samples collected at different depths from a cove on the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, FL. After collecting the sediment core it was sectioned into a set of 2-cm increments. Each increment was placed in 50 mb of deionized water and the slurry filtered through a piece of preweighed filter paper. The filter paper and sediment increment were then placed in a preweighed evaporating dish and dried in an oven at... 

If the spike recovery for Bsf is acceptable, or if the result for sample B is below the method s detection limit or outside the range of 0.1 to 10 times the amount of analyte spiked in Bsf, then the duplicate samples Ai and A2 are analyzed. The results for Ai and A2 are discarded if the difference between their values is excessive. If the difference between the results for Ai and A2 is within the accepted limits, then the results for samples Ai and B are compared. Since samples collected from the same sampling site at the same time should be identical in composition, the results are discarded if the difference between their values is unsatisfactory, and accepted if the difference is satisfactory. 

Intrusiveness. Workers are likely to alter their behavior, consciously or unconsciously, when they are observed. To the extent that a worker s exposure is related to the worker s actions, this change can distort the representativeness of the evaluation. Measurement methods which require the close presence of the person collecting the sample are more likely to influence the result than samples collected with unobtmsive devices worn by the worker. 

Pubhc concerns about pesticides in the diet of infants and children resulted in an expert committee convened by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences which devoted four years to the review of all available data. A consensus report was issued in 1993 (80). A number of recommendations for further work to more precisely define what constitutes the diet of infants and children were made. No risk could be estimated. The residue data reviewed by the panel were mainly from monitoring studies conducted by the PDA using multiresidue methods to analyze fresh produce and market basket samples collected from various geographic areas (81,82). These and other rehable scientific studies have demonstrated that relatively few food samples contain detectable residues. Most residues are far below estabhshed tolerances which are set above the maximum residue found in treated raw agricultural... 

Airborne organic sihcon has been detected in samples collected at Barrow, Alaska (509). Organic sihcon levels corresponding to an airborne concentration of 8 ng/m were detected. As a comparison, these samples were deterrnined to hold approximately 20 ng/m of phthalate-based plasticizers. 

The objective ia any analytical procedure is to determine the composition of the sample (speciation) and the amounts of different species present (quantification). Spectroscopic techniques can both identify and quantify ia a single measurement. A wide range of compounds can be detected with high specificity, even ia multicomponent mixtures. Many spectroscopic methods are noninvasive, involving no sample collection, pretreatment, or contamination (see Nondestructive evaluation). Because only optical access to the sample is needed, instmments can be remotely situated for environmental and process monitoring (see Analytical METHODS Process control). Spectroscopy provides rapid real-time results, and is easily adaptable to continuous long-term monitoring. Spectra also carry information on sample conditions such as temperature and pressure. 

Average of 10-day composite samples collected during water year 1969. 

Average of 5 bimonthly samples collected between October 1989 and July 1990. 

In 1976 scientists at the Merck Corporation discovered a complex of eight closely related natural products, subsequently named avermectins A through in a culture of Streptomjces avermitilis MA-4680 (NRRL8165) originating from a soil sample collected at Kawana, Ito City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan and isolated by the Kitasato Institute. Their stmctures are shown in Figure 1 (1 6). They are among the most potent anthelmintic, insecticidal, and acaricidal compounds known. 

C) may break through the sorbent under the conditions of the sample collection procedure. 

---