Transporting soil samples

INEEL. 241Am contamination occurred outside the SDA to a distance of 2,500 meters at the INEEL (Markham et al. 1978). Maximum concentrations of 241Am, 2,048 nCi/m2 (75.8 kBq/m2) in the 0-4" surface layer, near the perimeter of the SDA were thought to be due to flooding and to localized drainage of water, while low concentrations away from the SDA perimeter are a result of wind transport. Soil sampled at 118 plots around RF contained 241 Am ranging from 0.18 to 9,990 Bq/kg (0.0049-270 nCi/kg) with a mean and SD of 321 and 1,143 Bq/kg (8.67 and 30.9 nCi/kg), respectively (Litaor 1995). The distribution pattern reflects wind dispersion consistent with the prevailing winds at RF. 

ASTM. D4220. Standard practices for preserving and transporting soil samples. In Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Section 4, American Society for Testing and Materials, Philadelphia, PA, Vol. 04.08, pp. 719-728. 

A soil sample was taken from a field, transported back to the laboratory by road and stored for three weeks prior to analysis. The analytical procedure consisted of drying the soil in an oven at 100°C for 24 h before the analyte was extracted using 200 cm of dichloromethane. This extract was reduced in volume to 200 til and a 20 p.l aliquot then analysed by HPLC. A calibration was set up by measuring the response from a number of solutions containing known concentrations of the analyte. The resnlt obtained from the unknown , after suitable mathematical manipulation, indicated the original soil sample contained 20 0.05 mgkg of the analyte. Comment on the accuracy of this result. 

A solution to this dilemma is to place soil samples immediately in a freezer located in the field, the temperature of which is continuously monitored, as described previously. Laboratory-prepared storage study samples can then be used to determine test substance stability under freezer storage conditions that match those used in the field and during transportation and final storage. If a valid laboratory storage stability... 

In summary, improper e-waste recycling operations are the major contributors of dioxin and dioxin-like compounds to the terrestrial environment in China [7]. The lower concentrations of dioxin and dioxin-like compounds at reference sites than at e-waste recycling sites suggest the likelihood for these chemicals to transport atmospherically from where they are generated to distant areas. We can also infer that dioxin and dioxin-like compounds initially derived from burning of e-waste can enter ambient air and dust and finally deposit into soil. This notion is supported by the significant positive correlation between the levels of PCDD/Fs in dust and soil samples from Taizhou. 

Acrylonitrile is both readily volatile in air (0.13 atm at 23° C) (Mabey et al. 1982) and highly soluble in water (79,000 mg/L) (Klein et al. 1957). These characteristics dominate the behavior of acrylonitrile in the environment. While present in air, acrylonitrile has little tendency to adsorb to particulate matter (Cupitt 1980), so air transport of volatilized material is determined mainly by wind speed and direction. Similarly, acrylonitrile dissolved in water has only a low tendency to adsorb to suspended soils or sediments (Roy and Griffin 1985), so surface transport is determined by water flow parameters. Based on its relatively high water solubility, acrylonitrile is expected to be higly mobile in moist soils. In addition, acrylonitrile may penetrate into groundwater from surface spills or from contaminated surface water. The high vapor pressure indicates that evaporation from dry soil samples is expected to occur rapidly (EPA 1987). 

This Second Edition continues the basic approach of the first with the addition of four chapters. Chapter 1 is an outline of the development of soil chemistry with specific reference to the development of instruments that have been essential to the present understanding of soil chemistry. Chapter 7 is a new chapter dealing with soil sampling, both in the field and in the laboratory, soil water sampling, sample transport, and storage. Chapter 8 discusses direct, modified, and indirect methods of soil analysis. Chapter 15 covers the recent development of hyphenated instrumental methods and their application to soil analysis. 

In addition to obtaining soil samples and transporting them to the laboratory, there has been research into on-the-go soil analysis. This is accomplished using sensors attached to implements in contact with the soil. A soil sample is taken, analyzed, and then returned to the field over a short period of time. In addition to specific sensors, reflection and conductance are other approaches used to obtain information about soil. Electrical measurements of soil are further discussed in Chapter 9. 

Explain how and why storage and transport of soil samples might affect analytical results. 

XRF characteristics that can limit its usefulness are the surface area observed and surface contamination. In XRF, the surface area measured is small, meaning that a large number of determinations must be made in order to obtain a representative sample of the elements present. In addition, transport and storage of uncovered soil samples can lead to surface contamination that will subsequently appear as part of the soil constituents. 

Zero-headspace procedures involve the collection of a soil sample with immediate transfer to a container into which the sample fits exactly. The only space for gases is that within the soil pores. The volume of sample collected depends on the concentration of volatiles in the soil. It is imperative that the container employed can be interfaced directly with the gas chromatograph. Several commercial versions of zero-headspace sampling devices are available. The sample is transported to the laboratory at 4°C, where it is analyzed directly by purge-and-trap gas chromatography (EPA 5035) or other appropriate techniques, such as vacuum distillation (EPA 5032) or headspace (EPA 5021). 

Another method (EPA 3611) that focuses on the to separation of groups or fractions with similar mobility in soils is based on the use of alumina and silica gel (EPA 3630) that are used to fractionate the hydrocarbon into ahphatic and aromatic fractions. A gas chromatograph equipped with a boiling-point column (nonpolar capillary column) is used to analyze whole soil samples as weU as the aliphatic and aromatic fractions to resolve and quantify the fate-and-transport fractions. The method is versatile and performance based and therefore can be modified to accommodate data quality objectives. 

Abstract Mobile Au in soil has been postulated for many years. It has been used by the mineral exploration industry in areas of transported overburden as a vector towards buried deposits. Until now, the nature of this mobile Au has not been known or investigated. Soil samples from a colluvial area above the Bounty Deposit (Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia) investigated by analytical techniques including laser ablation inductively coupled mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) and synchrotron x-ray fluorescence (SXRF) combined with X-ray absorption spectrometry (XAS) have allowed us to map the invisible Au in these soils and suggests that at least some of it occurs in an ionic form. 

In order to understand the behavior of the soil-like aerosols, samples of exposed surface soils were collected in the vicinity of each of the sites. Additional samples were obtained from locations in the Ute Indian area, for a total of 110 soil samples. The samples were collected by first selecting a location representative of the surrounding area. Factors considered at each site Included ground cover, agricultural practices, and a judgement of the ability of the surface to be resuspended. An area approximately 15 cm square was removed to a depth of 2-3 cm and transported to Davis in a plastic zip-lock bag or a nalgene bottle. 

Aqueous trip blanks sometimes accompany soil samples collected into metal liners or glass jars. In this capacity they do not provide any meaningful information. Soil samples do not have the same contamination pathway as water samples because they are not collected in 40-milliliter (ml) VOA vials with PTFE-lined septum caps. In addition, soil does not have the same VOC transport mechanism as water does (adsorption in soil versus dissolution in water). There are other differences that do not permit this comparison different sample handling in the laboratory different analytical techniques used for soil and water analysis and the differences in soil and water MDLs. That is why the comparison of low-level VOC concentrations in water to VOC concentrations in soil is never conclusive. 

Trip blanks prepared in vials and containing aliquots of methanol or analyte-free water accompany soil samples collected in a similar manner for low concentration VOC analysis according to EPA Method 5035. In this case, field samples and trip blanks have the same contamination pathway when exposed to airborne contaminants and the same VOC transport mechanism. These trip blanks provide important information, which may enable us to recognize the artifacts of improper sample handling, storage, or shipping. 

Slurries have been used to introduce soil samples into an ETV with ICP-MS detection [332] as well as directly into an ICP-MS using a Babington-type nebulizer [333]. Although slurry sample introduction eliminates the problems associated with sample dissolution, care is required to ensure that the slurry particles are small enough to be completely vaporized in the ICP. Agglomeration of particles in the slurry before introduction to the nebulizer must be prevented in order to maintain constant transport efficiency into the ICP... 

Understanding sulfate transport and retention dynamics in forest soils is a prerequisite in predicting S04 concentration in the soil solution and in lake and stream waters. In this study, forest soil samples from the Gardsjon catchments, Sweden, were used to study S04 transport in soil columns from the upper three soil horizons (E, Bs, and BC). The columns were leached using a sequential leaching technique. The input solutions were CaS04 equilibrated with forest floor material. Leaching behavior of S04 and concentration in the effluent were measured from columns from individual horizons. S04 was always retained in the Bs and BC horizons, while... 

Many other polluting compounds in addition to acids are transported long distances with the air currents. Analyses of soil samples from southern Norway have shown an increase in many undesired elements. Of course a very great accumulation of such material has not yet taken place. 

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