Air Monitoring Techniques - Chemical Spills to Nuisance Odors

摘要

The United States Environmental Protection Agency - Environmental Response Teamrn(U. S.EPA-ERT) was established in October 1978 to provide technical assistance to On-rnScene Coordinators (OSCs), Regional Response Teams (RRTs), and U.S.EPA offices, forrnoil spills, hazardous waste activities, and accidental chemical release situations. Most ofrnthe responses have involved air monitoring to determine potential exposures to hazardousrnair pollutants (HAPS). Supporting the ERT is the Response Engineering and AnalyticalrnContract (WAC), which provides technical support and expertise.rnTo determine the potential exposures to HAPS, a variety of sampling and monitoringrntechniques are used, in a systematic approach, including a Trace Atmospheric GasrnAnalyzer (TAGA) system, an Open Path Fouier Transform Infrared (FTIR) system,rnvarious gas ChromotragrapW mass spectrometer (GCMS) systems, and a full range ofrnsampling methods.rnThis paper is based upon an actual case study in which the nature of the reported problemrncould have been due to a chemical spill, underground contamination or nuisance odorsrnfrom a number of sources. Although the name of the site cannot be released at this time,rnit is located in U.S.EPA Region I. To evaluate this situation, the area was investigatedrnwith a TAGA system, Summa? canister sampling, soil gas on-site sampling, andrntraditional grab sampling methods using collection media and sampling tubes. Inrnaddition, this response utilized infrared aerial photography, and on-site meteorologicalrndata collection. This paper describes the methodologies used for a specific program andrntheir capability for providing information on whether the situation involved a chemicalrnspill, a nuisance odor or some other chemical exposure.