Accession Number:

ADA280124

Title:

Concentration Stability of Four Volatile Organic Compounds in Soil Subsamples

Descriptive Note:

Special rept.

Corporate Author:

COLD REGIONS RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING LAB HANOVER NH

Personal Author(s):

• Hewitt, Alan D.

Report Date:

1994-04-01

Pagination or Media Count:

14.0

Abstract:

This study assesses the short-term 14- to 20-day concentration stability of benzene, toluene, trans-1,2-dichloroethylene and trichloroethylene in soil matrices, in the absence of volatilization losses. Previously, holding time studies failed to eliminate volatilization as a variable, making them difficult to interpret. Here, vapor-fortified soil subsamples, sealed in glass ampoules for 16 days, experienced appreciable reductions in benzene, presumably attributable only to biodegradation. Treated soil subsamples, on the other hand, prepared without vapor losses for either aqueous extraction headspace or purge- and-trap analyses, showed appreciable reductions in toluene and lost all the benzene over a 14-day holding period at 4 deg C. These findings suggest that chemical preservatives are necessary to maintain volatile organic compound concentrations in soil when more than a couple of days pass between collection and analysis. Biodegradation, Soil samples, Holding time, Volatile-organic compounds.

Descriptors:

• *WATER POLLUTION
• *SOIL POLLUTION
• BENZENE
• HAZARDOUS WASTES
• BIODEGRADATION
• TRICHLOROETHYLENE
• SOIL SURVEYS
• TOLUENES
• CHROMATOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS
• MICROORGANISMS
• POLLUTION ABATEMENT
• ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
• GROUND WATER

Subject Categories:

• Solid Wastes and Pollution and Control
• Water Pollution and Control

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE