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FIELD MEASUREMENT TECHNOLOGY FOR MERCURY IN SOIL AND SEDIMENT MILESTONE INC.'S DIRECT MERCURY ANALYZER (DMA)-80
Citation:
Billets, S N., J. Nicklas, AND J. Evans. FIELD MEASUREMENT TECHNOLOGY FOR MERCURY IN SOIL AND SEDIMENT MILESTONE INC.'S DIRECT MERCURY ANALYZER (DMA)-80. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-04/012 (NTIS PB2005-100261), 2004.
Impact/Purpose:
The objective of this program is to promote the acceptance and use of innovative field technologies by providing well-documented performance and cost data obtained from field demonstrations.
Description:
Milestone's Direct Mercury Analyzer (DMA-80) was demonstrated under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Superfund Innovative Technology Evaluation Program in May 2003 at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The purpose of the Demonstration was to collect reliable performance and cost data for the DMA-80 and four other field measurement devices for mercury in soil and sediment. The key objectives of the demonstration were: 1) determine sensitivity of each instrument with respect to a vendor-generated method detection limit (MDL) and practical quantitation limit (POL); 2) determine analytical accuracy associated with vendor field measurements using field samples and standard reference materials (SRMs); 3) evaluate the precision of vendor field measurements; 4) measure time required to perform mercury measurements; and 5) estimate costs associated with mercury measurements for capital, labor, supplies, and investigation-derived wastes.
The demonstration involved analysis of standard reference materials (SRMs ), field samples collected from four sites, and spiked field samples for mercury. The performance results for a given field measurement device were compared to those for an off-site laboratory using reference method, "Test Methods for Evaluating Solid Waste" (SW-846) Method 7471 B.
The sensitivity, accuracy, and precision measurements were successfully com MA-80 performed well in all these categories. The measurement costs were estimated to be $13,381 for milestone's DMA-80 rental option or $77.35 per sample; excluding rental fees.
The DMA-80 exhibited good ease of use and durability, as well as no major health and safety concerns. However, the device portability is somewhat limited by its size. Despite these limitations, the demonstration findings collectively indicated that the DMA-80 is a reliable field mobile measurement device for mercury in soil.