Evidence that Certain Waste Tank Headspace Vapor Samples were COntaminated by Semivolatile Polymer Additives

摘要

Vapor samples collected from the headspaces of the Hanford Site high-level radioactive waste tanks in 1994 and 1995 using the Vapor Sampling System (VSS) were reported to contain trace levels of phthalates, antioxidants, and certain other industrial chemicals that did not have a logical origin in the waste. This report examines the evidence these chemicals were sampling artifacts (contamination) and identifies the chemicals reported as headspace constituents that may instead have been contaminants. Specific recommendations are given regarding the marking of certain chemicals as suspect on the basis they were sampling manifold contaminants.