Series Methods

The EPA publishes Series Methods that describe the exact procedures to be followed with respect to sample receipt and handling, analytical methods, data reporting, and document control. These guidelines must be followed closely to ensure accuracy, reproducibility, and reliability within and among the contract laboratories. 

The Clean Water Act (1972) requires discharge limits to be set on industrial and municipal wastewater, and these analyses are outlined in the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System for the 600 Series Methods. Method 624 covers the analysis of purgeable organic compounds Method 625 covers the analysis of 81 bases, neutrals, and acids Method 613 describes the analysis of dioxins and furans. 

To satisfy the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (1977) and its amendment for hazardous and solid waste (1984), the 80(K) Series Methods have been designed to analyze solid waste, soUs, and groundwater. In particular, methods 8240/8260 require the use of a purge-and-trap device in conjunction with packed or capillary GC/MS, respectively, for the analysis of purgeable organic compounds. Methods 8250/8270 concern analyses for the less-volatile bases, neutrals, and acids by GC/MS after extraction from the matrix by an organic solvent. 

Before sample preparation, the laboratory must demonstrate that the mass spectrometer is operating satisfactorily. First, the instrument must be tuned by calibration using one of two compounds. 

Chemical structures for BFB and DFTPP and their relative molecular masses (RMM molecular weight) (a) 4-bromoflu-orobenzene (BFB) RMM = 174 and 176 (b) decafluorotriphenylphosphine (DFTPP) RMM = 442. 

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Patterson A L 1934 A Fourier series method for for the determination of the components of interatomic distances in crystals Phys. Rev. 46 372-6... 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency publishes sets of Series Methods that describe procedures for detecting and estimating the quantity of environmentally hazardous substances. There are strict requirements for accuracy, reproducibility, and for calibration of mass spectrometers. 

The EPA s protocols, published in the official Series Methods, describe the exact procedures that must be followed when handling, preparing, and analyzing samples and reporting the results. 

Target compounds are specified for each Series Method. Volatile compounds that need to be analyzed can be extracted from the matrix by a purge-and-trap device. 

Initial calibration for a Series Method is achieved by analyzing a set of standards made up to specified concentrations. 

Continuing calibration for a Series Method is performed using calibration check compounds. Surrogate compounds are added to the matrix before sample preparation to evaluate recovery levels. To check GC retention times, internal standards are added to a sample after its preparation for analysis. 

By series methods, not to be discussed here, this equation can be shown to have the solution... 

These results are the same as with the power series method, but difference equations are more suited to digital computation. 

Walls, L. A. and A. Bendell. Time Series Methods in Reliability. Proceedings of the 9th Advances in Reliability Technology Symposium. Bradford, C2/3, 1986, pp. 1-18. 

A. Standard series method (Section 17.4). The test solution contained in a Nessler tube is diluted to a definite volume, thoroughly mixed, and its colour compared with a series of standards similarly prepared. The concentration of the unknown is then, of course, equal to that of the known solution whose colour it matches exactly. The accuracy of the method will depend upon the concentrations of the standard series the probable error is of the order of + 3 per cent, but may be as high as + 8 per cent. 

Standard curves in spectrophotometry, 674 Standard deviation I 34 Standard potentials 62, 63, 66 Standard series method 652, 654 Standard solutions 107, 257, 259 for pH, 569, 831 prepn. of, 107, 260, 285, 802 storage of, 108 Standard substances for acidimetry and alkalimetry ... 

Statistical Analysis of Coatings Degradation by Time-Series Methods... 

We are indebted to all authors for their weU-elaborated chapters, and we want to express our gratitude to Dr Andreas Sendtko and Dr Frank Weinreich from Wiley-VCH for their valuable contributions to this volume and the ongoing support of our series Methods and Principles in Medicinal Chemistry. 

In the early 1990s, I founded the book series Methods and Principles in Medicinal Chemistry with Verlag Chemie Henk Timmerman and Povl Krogsgaard Larsen joined me on the initial board of series editors. Hugo Kubinyi followed Povl Krogsgaard Larsen after the first three volumes were released. Henk contributed... 

EPA 500 Series, Method 507, Revision 2.0, US Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC (1989). 

Dating of whole rocks by any U-series method is possible only if the initial (N2/Ni)o ratio is known (see Eqn. 1). In several cases, this condition can be met as will be shown in the examples below. 

Ku TL (1976) The uranium-series methods of age determination. Arm Rev Earth Planet Sci 4 347-380... 

Kitagawa H van der Plicht J (2000) Atmospheric radiocarbon calibration beyond 11,900 cal BP from Lake Suigetsu laminated sediments. Radiocarbon 42 369-380 Ku T-L (2000) Uranium-Series Methods. In Quaternary Geochronology Methods and Applications. 

Bones and teeth, however, are primary archaeological materials and are common to many archaeological sites. Bones bearing cut marks from stone tools are a clear proxy for human occupation of a site, and in the study of human evolution, hominid remains provide the primary archive material. Hence, many attempts have been made to directly date bones and teeth using the U-series method. Unlike calcite, however, bones and teeth are open systems. Living bone, for example, contains a few parts per billion (ppb) of Uranium, but archaeological bone may contain 1-100 parts per million (ppm) of Uranium, taken up from the burial environment. Implicit in the calculation of a date from °Th/U or Pa/ U is a model for this Uranium uptake, and the reliability of a U-series date is dependent on the validity of this uptake model. 

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