Experimental Evaluation of Selected Field Portable Instrumentation for the Qualitative Determination of Contaminant Levels in Soil and Water at Rocky Mountain Arsenal.

摘要

The two instrumental systems evaluated were a portable gas chromatograph (GC), for determination of volatile organic constituents in water and soil, and a portable x-ray fluorescence (XRF) unit, for determination of selected elemental contamination in water and soil. Laboratory evaluation studies indicated that the particular portable GC chosen for use was insufficiently reliable to be used in a field setting, and so the remainder of the effort was placed on the evaluation of the portable XRF system. For the XRF system, the nature of the matrix being examined can affect the apparent quantify of the target element present, and it is critical to use calibration standards that are prepared from a material that simulates as closely as possible the chemical and physical properties of the environmental samples being analyzed. Experience at RMA indicated that the XRF system can be used under field portable conditions and achieve reasonably quantitative results for wet soil and water contaminated in the 100-3000 ppm range. However, it was not equivalent to conventional laboratory based methods in terms of accuracy and precision. Field equipment/tests; Water pollution; Portable test equipment. (edc)