VOLATILE ORGANIC-COMPOUNDS IN CONTAMINATED SOILS - THE NATURE AND VALIDITY OF THE MEASUREMENT PROCESS

[摘要] A wide variety of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as toluene and trichloroethene routinely appear as principal pollutants in contaminated sites. As part of the site assessment and environmental restoration process, quantitative determination of soil VOCs is required. While accurate and precise measurements are desired, the validity of the current process in which a discrete sample is collected and a 1 to 5 g subsample is analyzed for a suite of organic compounds of widely different properties is questionable. Research has demonstrated that the soil VOC measurement process is complex and current, commonly employed practices can lead to substantial measurement errors. For example, -100 to +25% bias can occur in measurements of some soil VOCs. Knowledge of VOC behavior in soils and the measurements process continues to expand and advances are being made in sampling and analysis techniques. Further research is needed to enable development of a valid soil VOC measurement process.

[发布日期] 1991-12-01