Sampling Cropped Land

One common example of qualitative analysis is the examination of the conditions of a particular environment. Farmers, for example, may have soil samples examined for mineral content to determine any necessary steps for producing a better crop yield. Qualitative analysis is also employed in detecting the presence of pollutants in rivers or other bodies of water, or in the land or air. Those who use water from wells may periodically have those wells tested for toxic substances such as lead. Again, although most people only see the results of the analysis as a positive or negative finding for some chemical or element, the rigorously developed procedures of qualitative analysis have still been applied. 

No 2,3,7,8-TCDD was detected in animal tissue or vegetation samples collected from land used for grazing or raising crops however, only a limited number of these samples was collected. 

In the U.S., routine analysis of grains for vomitoxin didn t begin until 1981, about a year after the Canadians first surveys. In 1981, the U.S. cornbelt was heavily contaminated with vomitoxin from Iowa to New York. In Illinois, 274 of 342 samples of grain (mostly corn, but some wheat and oats) and animal feeds were found to contain from 0.1 to 22 ppm with a mean of 3 ppm vomitoxin ( ) In 1982, the winter wheat crop of Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri and Iowa was contaminated with vomitoxin. A million acres of land in southeast and southcentral Nebraska (one third of the Nebraska wheat producing area) contained scabby wheat, a condition caused by the Fusarium mold that produces vomitoxin. A survey of 87 samples of wheat heads, grain, chaff, and straw found 76 (87%) to contain over 0.3 ppm, 63 (72%) over 1 ppm and 11 (13%) over 5 ppm vomitoxin (4). The scabby wheat area extended into north-... 

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