Citation:

Dore, E., D. Lytle, L. Wasserstrom, J. Swertfeger, AND S. Triantafyllidou. Field Analyzers for Lead Quantification in Drinking Water Samples. CRITICAL REVIEWS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY. CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, FL, 50(20):1-31, (2020). https://doi.org/10.1080/10643389.2020.1782654

Impact/Purpose:

Field analyzers for the measurement of lead in drinking water samples are gaining interest from US states, drinking water utilities, school and other building managers as a tool to rapidly quantify lead concentrations. This literature review provides information on commercially available lead field analyzers and compares them to well-established laboratory methods.

Description:

Field analyzers for the measurement of lead in drinking water samples are gaining interest from states, water utilities and building managers as rapid, inexpensive and simple tools to quantify lead concentrations. This literature review compares data quality by field analyzers to established laboratory methods and provides practical information (e.g., costs, ease-of-use) on commercially available lead analyzers that are based on: (1) Electrochemistry, (2) Colorimetry and (3) Fluorescence. Between and within these three general field analyzer categories, manufacturers specify a variety of protocols to prepare the samples, which differ from the standard acidification in laboratory methods. Review of the literature raised concerns that without adequate sample preparation, field analyzers may not always fully quantify the total lead concentration, including particulate lead, thereby resulting in underestimations. Nonetheless, field analyzers have been used by researchers to quickly obtain experimental results in the laboratory, or in the field when access to laboratory equipment was limited, expensive or otherwise impractical. Field analyzers were also successfully used to detect lead in service lines, by a water utility where lead was mostly in the dissolved form. Overall, intrinsic strengths and weaknesses of field analyzers are discussed, to better balance practical convenience and adequate data quality depending on the sampling objective.

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