Soil and Sediment Sampling

This proeedure has been applied to thousands soil and sediment samples and hundreds biologieal and water samples taken in the exelusive zone of Chernobyl NPP and different regions of Ukraine. The methods developments ai e deseribed. 

In random samples of soil taken from five Alabama counties, only 3 of 46 soil samples contained methyl parathion. The concentration in these samples was <0.1 ppm (Albright et al. 1974). Aspartofthe National Soils Monitoring Program, soil and crop samples from 37 states were analyzed for methyl parathion during 1972. Methyl parathion was detected in only 1 soil sample, at a concentration of <0.1 ppm and taken from South Dakota, out of 1,246 total samples taken from the 37 states (Carey et al. 1979). In soil and sediment samples collected from a watershed area in Mississippi, methyl parathion was not detected in the soil samples. In three wetland sediment cores, however, measurable concentrations of methyl parathion were detected during application season (Cooper 1991). 

Oxime carbamates are not directly amenable to gas chromatography (GC) because of their high thermal instability, which often leads to their breakdown at the injection port or in the column during analysis. Analysis of oxime carbamates by GC with sulfur detection or flame photometric detection involves oxidation of the intact insecticides or alkaline hydrolysis to form the more volatile but stable oxime compound. Enzymatic techniques have been reported for the analysis of these compounds. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) has been used to determine aldicarb and its sulfone and sulfoxide metabolites and methomyl in water, soil, and sediment samples. 

DF = dilution factor (60 mL extract/12 mL aliquot = 5) used for soil and sediment samples... 

Krishnamurty, K. V. et al., At. Abs. Newslett., 1976, 15, 68-70 When preparing soil and sediment samples for atomic absorption spectral analysis for trace metals, pre-oxidation with nitric acid before addition of hydrogen peroxide eliminates the danger of explosion. 

Miller DN, Bryant JE, Madsen EL, Ghiorse WC. Evaluation and optimization of DNA extraction and purification procedures for soil and sediment samples. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 1999 65 4715 1724. 

The polyaromatic hydrocarbons in the soil sample were quantitated by using an external standard of anthracene. The results reportedly for a polluted soil and sediment sample indicate that this flash evaporation-pyrolysis technique combined with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry is a valuable tool for rapidly screening polluted samples for virtually all types of anthropogenic contaminants except for heavy metals. 

In lakes and streams, mercury can collect in the bottom sediments, where it may remain for long periods of time. It is difficult to release the mercury from these matrices for analysis. Several investigators have liberated mercury from soil and sediment samples by the application of heat to the samples and the collection of the released mercury on gold surfaces. The mercury was then released from the gold by application of heat or by absorption in a solution containing oxidizing agents as discussed below [35, 49],... 

The dissolution agents used for soil and sediment samples are very diverse, and the analytical chemist must understand thoroughly the chemistry underlying the dissolution process when using a particular reagent. Although the most common dissolution agent is water, there are many situations where water may be unsatisfactory. 

In 1971 and 1972, mirex was detected in soil and sediment samples taken from areas in Louisiana and Mississippi that had been aerially treated with mirex to control the imported red fire ant (Spence and Markin 1974). In Louisiana, samples were collected throughout the first year after spraying. Soil and sediment residues in the Louisiana study peaked after 1 month (soil, 2.5 pg/kg [ppb] sediment, 0.7 pg/kg [ppb]) and gradually declined over the remainder of the year. In Mississippi, samples were collected for 4 months following spraying. Sediment residues in Mississippi also peaked about 1 month after spraying (1.1 pg/kg [ppb]) and gradually declined over the next couple of months. The... 

Dibromoethane has been widely released to the environment mainly as a result of the historical use of the compound as a gasoline additive and a fumigant (Fishbein 1979). The compound has also been released from industrial processing facilities. For example, 1,2-dibromoethane was found in air, water, soil, and sediment samples taken near industrial bromine facilities in El Dorado and Magnolia, Arkansas, in 1977 (Pellizzari et al. 1978). 

Dichlorobenzidine has been identified in soil and sediment samples eollected at 18 of the 32 NPL hazardous waste sites where it was deteeted in some environmental media (HazDat 1998). 

Soil Samples. Five methods of extraction were evaluated for soil samples collected at the Horticulture pit. The results for this evaluation are tabulated in Table II. The Woolson procedure ( 3) was selected for use throughout the course of our investigations of all soil and sediment samples. 

All sediments used in the studies reported in this article were selected from a group of well-characterized soil and sediment samples which were collected and air-dried for the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency by Hassett and co-workers (22) The characteristics of several of these are outlined in Table I. 

Methods for determining cresols in environmental media are summarized in Table 6-2. Procedures for the determination of and o- and p-cresol in water, soil, and sediment samples at hazardous waste sites are outlined by EPA (1988a). The required quantitation limits for each of the isomeric cresols are 10 ppb for water samples and 330 ppb for soil and sediment samples in this monitoring program. 

Dichloromethane has been detected in soil and sediment samples taken at 36% of the hazardous waste sites included in the ConPact Laboratory Program StaPsPcal Database at a geomePic mean concentration of 104 pg/kg (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, 1993). 

Soils and Sediments. This protocol (Figure 5) was developed for the preparation of soil and sediment samples for mutagenicity testing. It was designed to provide samples that accurately represent the mutagenic potential of the soil or sediment sample initially extracted and, if necessary, sufficiently fractionate the original material to isolate bioactive materials. Fractionation should be required only if the toxicity of the crude extract prevents determination of the mutagenic potential. 

Fiedler H, Lau C, Kjeller L-O, Rappe C (1996) Patterns and Sources of Polychlorinated Dibenzo-p-dioxins and Dibenzofurans Found in Soil and Sediment Samples in Southern Mississippi. Chemosphere 32 421... 

LAB / Laboratory for sample preparation (soil and sediment samples). Geological Survey of the Slovak Republic. 

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