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CHOL-N-SOIL PCB TEST KIT, DEXSIL CORP. - INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY Evaluation REPORT
Citation:
Hess, E. AND D. Hamilton. CHOL-N-SOIL PCB TEST KIT, DEXSIL CORP. - INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY Evaluation REPORT. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/540/R-95/518 (NTIS 96-130687), 1995.
Impact/Purpose:
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Description:
This innovative technology evaluation report (ITER) presents the evaluation of two field screening technologies for determining polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contamination in soil. The demonstration was conducted by PRC Environmental Management, Inc. (PRC), under contract to the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Environmental Monitoring Systems Laboratory-Las Vegas (EMSL-LV). The Clor-N-Soil Test Kit and the L2000 PCB/Chloride Analyzer, both developed by the Dexsil Corporation, were demonstrated in August 1992 in Kansas City, Missouri. The Clor-N-Soil Test Kit is designed to provide semiquantitative results for PCBs in soil. It provides a greater than or less than 50 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg) result. Compounds containing organic chlorine, such as PCBS. are extracted from the soil samples; through a series of chemical steps, the chloride ions are stripped from the compound, transferred to an aqueous solution, and mixed with a reagent to induce a color change. Because the test kit reacts to all sources of organic chlorine, the presence of some compounds other than PCBs will cause it to produce false positive results. The presence of sulfur in samples may produce the same result. During this demonstration, the test kit produced 87 correct assays, 58 false positives, and 1 false negative. Because the test kit reacts with the chlorine in PCBS, it will produce different responses to individual Aroclors, each of which contains a different percentage of chlorine. The test kit will produce false negative results for samples containing Aroclors 1016, 1221, and 1232, which contain lower percentages of chlorine than Aroclor 1260, the Aroclor the kit is designed to detect.