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AN ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY VERIFICATION (ETV) OF FOUR TEST KITS FOR THE ANALYSIS OF ATRAZINE IN WATER: ABRAXIS LLC ATRAZINE ELISA KIT, BEACON ANALYTICAL SYSTEMS, INC. ATRAZINE TUBE KIT, SILVER LAKE RESEARCH CORP. WATERSAFE PESTICIDE TEST AND STRATEGIC DIAGNOSTICS, INC. RAPID ASSAY KIT
Citation:
Battelle. AN ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY VERIFICATION (ETV) OF FOUR TEST KITS FOR THE ANALYSIS OF ATRAZINE IN WATER: ABRAXIS LLC ATRAZINE ELISA KIT, BEACON ANALYTICAL SYSTEMS, INC. ATRAZINE TUBE KIT, SILVER LAKE RESEARCH CORP. WATERSAFE PESTICIDE TEST AND STRATEGIC DIAGNOSTICS, INC. RAPID ASSAY KIT.
Impact/Purpose:
The overall objective of the ETV Program is to accelerate the entrance of new environmental technologies into the domestic and international marketplace by identifying the environmental performance characteristics of commercial-ready technology through the evaluation of objective and quality assured data. This provides the potential purchasers and permitters with an independent and credible assessment of what they are buying and/or permitting. The AMS Center has received funding to performance verify monitoring technologies relevant for homeland security.
Description:
The Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) Program, beginning as an initiative of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1995, verifies the performance of commercially available, innovative technologies that can be used to measure environmental quality. The ETV provides, through a third-party, quality-assured performance data so buyers and users of environmental technologies can make informed purchase and application decisions, thus providing one path to reducing emissions and improving human health. To provide cost-effective testing, Stakeholder committees, made up of members with diverse backgrounds, provide guidance to the ETV by identifying and prioritizing environmental technologies to address present day environmental quality challenges.
The ETV Advanced Monitoring Systems (AMS) Center, one of six ETV Centers, is actively involved in verifying the performance of advanced monitoring systems available to the public for purchase. The AMS Center participates in the mission of the ETV by providing Test Plans, Protocols, conducting independent performance tests of technologies, and preparing Verification Reports and Statements describing the results of the testing. Vendors of tested technologies can use the Verification Reports for marketing purposes. All approved Verification Reports are posted on the ETV Web Site as a form of distribution. The individual verification reports and statements describe by this abstract are four test kits for the Analysis of Atrazine in Water: Abraxis LLC Atrazine ELISA Kit, Beacon Analytical Systems, Inc. Atrazine Tube Kit, Silver Lake Research Corp. Watersafe(R) Pesticide Test, and Strategic Diagonostics Inc. RaPID Assay(R) Kit.
The Atrazine test kits were verified in terms of there performance on the following parameters: accuracy, precision, linearity, method detection limit (MDL), cross-reactivity of hydroxylatrazine and desethyl Atrazine, matrix interference effects, and rate of false positives/false negatives. Qualitative factors including ease of use, reliability, and sample throughput were also evaluated. All preparation and analyses were performed according to the manufacturer's recommended procedures. The verification test involved challenging the Atrazine test kits with various environmental samples including fresh pond water, brackish pond water, groundwater, and chlorinated drinking water. Natural and atrazine-fortified (i.e., unspiked and spiked) environmental samples were analyzed using both the Atrazine test kits and a laboratory reference method. Performance test (PT) samples consisting of ASTM Type I water samples fortified with atrazine or an atrazine degradation product also were analyzed. All laboratory-fortified samples were prepared using certified, commercially available standards. All samples were analyzed by the Atrazine test kits and by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) according to modified EPA Method 525.2. Each sample was analyzed in triplicate using the test kit. Samples were given to the analyst blind and in random order.
The Atrazine test kits and reference method results were used to assess accuracy and linearity. Replicate sample results were used to assess precision. Results for replicates of a low-level spiked sample were used to evaluate the MDL. Cross-reactivity of hydroxyatrazine and desethyl atrazine were assessed by evaluating the Atrazine test kits results for samples that contain only the degradation compound, but not atrazine. Potential matrix effects were assessed by comparing accuracy and precision results for environmental samples (i.e., chlorinated drinking water, fresh surface water, brackish surface water, and groundwater) to those for ASTM Type I water samples. Occurrence of false positives and false negatives results will be assessed relative to a 3 ppb drinking water maximum contamination level for atrazine. Performance parameters, such as ease of use and reliability, were based on documented observations of the analyst. Sample throughput was estimated based on the time required to analyze a sample set.
Technical and QA oversight of verification testing was provided by EPA and Battelle. Battelle QA staff conducted a data quality audit of 10% of the test data, a performance evaluation audit, and a technical systems audit of the procedures used in this verification.