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FIELD ANALYTICAL SCREENING PROGRAM: PCB METHOD - INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY REPORT
Citation:
Hess, E. AND D. Hamilton. FIELD ANALYTICAL SCREENING PROGRAM: PCB METHOD - INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY REPORT. EPA/540/R-95/521 (NTIS 96-130026), 1995.
Impact/Purpose:
information
Description:
This innovative technology evaluation report (ITER) presents information on the demonstration of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 7 Superfund Field Analytical Screening Program (FASP) method for determining polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contamination in soil. This method was demonstrated in Kansas City, Kansas, in August 1992. The FASP PCB Method was developed by the EPA Superfund Branch for use at Superfund sites. The method uses a gas chromatograph (GC) equipped with a megabore capillary column and an electron capture detector (ECD). as chromatography is an EPA-approved method for determining PCB concentrations in soil, water, and waste samples. The FASP PCB Method is an abbreviated, modified version of approved methods. Soil samples require extraction before GC analysis. To remove matrix interferences, a sulfuric acid cleanup step is used during the FASP PCB Method. The FASP PCB Method was found to be field-portable only in a mobile laboratory, must be done in a temperature controlled environment, and requires a skilled chemist for operation. The detection limit reported by this method for is 0.4 part per million for soil samples. RC used linear regression and inferential statistics to compare the method's data to that from the confirmatory laboratory. Then the data sets were evaluated, the FASP PCB Method's results were statistically the same as the confirmatory laboratory. This method can produce Level 3 data. This method can also identify individual PCB isomers.