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DISCUSSION AND EVALUATION OF THE VOLATILITY TEST FOR EQUIVALENCY OF OTHER METHODS TO THE FEDERAL REFERENCE METHOD FOR FINE PARTICULATE MATTER
Citation:
Eisner, A. D. AND R W. Wiener. DISCUSSION AND EVALUATION OF THE VOLATILITY TEST FOR EQUIVALENCY OF OTHER METHODS TO THE FEDERAL REFERENCE METHOD FOR FINE PARTICULATE MATTER. AEROSOL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 36(4):433-440, (2002).
Impact/Purpose:
The overall objectives of this task are to provide reference methods and their associated EPA designation requirements for PM when new indicators of PM are required by OAQPS, and to provide continuous improvements to existing PM reference and equivalent methods so that national data quality objectives for PM can be met. These efforts will provide the necessary assurance that attainment determination uncertainties are at acceptable levels.
Description:
In July 1997, EPA promulgated a new National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for fine particulate matter (PM2.5). This new standard was based on collection of an integrated mass sample on a filter. Field studies have demonstrated that the collection of semivolatile compounds leads to artifacts and imprecision among methods. In view of such sampling artifacts, a test requirement was promulgated in Title 40, Part 53, Subpart F, Section 53.66 of the Code of Federal Regulations (40CFR53.66) to aid in the determination of methodological equivalency. In this paper, this requirement is critically reviewed and tested in terms of its feasibility and precision. The results show that the test is capable of demonstrating acceptable precision for FRM-type samplers and repeatable differences in performance among different methods. In order to maintain high precision within the entire test procedure, the loading time should be extended to 2 h for flow rates of 16.7 lpm and proportionately longer for lower flow rates.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through its Office of Research and Development funded and managed the research described here under Contract 68-D5-0049 to ManTech Environmental Technology, Inc. It has been subjected to Agency review and approved for publication. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.