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A Tube and Cartridge Method for Down‐Hole Sampling for Trace Organic Compounds in Ground Water
Author(s) -
Pankow James F.,
Isabella Lome M.,
Hewetson Janet P.,
Cherry John A.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
groundwater
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.84
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1745-6584
pISSN - 0017-467X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-6584.1985.tb01957.x
Subject(s) - cartridge , thermal desorption , volatilisation , sorbent , chemistry , piezometer , groundwater , chromatography , contamination , sorption , adsorption , analytical chemistry (journal) , gas chromatography , desorption , tube (container) , environmental chemistry , sampling (signal processing) , waste management , materials science , filter (signal processing) , geology , aquifer , ecology , geotechnical engineering , organic chemistry , computer science , metallurgy , computer vision , biology , engineering
A small ground‐water sampling device has been developed which extends the down‐hole use of the adsorption/thermal desorption (ATD) analysis method for nonpolar organic compounds to very narrow piezometers (I.D. > 0.64 cm). The sampler consists of a sorbent cartridge, a flow restrictor, and a tube leading to the ground surface. The device is lowered down a piezometer, and water‐column pressure forces the sample through the cartridge. In the laboratory, the water is removed from the cartridge and the sorbed compounds are thermally desorbed to a gas chromatography (GC) column for analysis. Since the analytes are sorbed on the cartridge down‐hole, volatilization losses are avoided. Samples can be obtained without being influenced by the water column above the sampler or by tubing or pumps; many uncertainties associated with well purging and contamination from well casings and samplers can be minimized. The method was tested by sampling at a landfill. The coefficients of variation were in the 10‐18% range at the low μg /1 level. The limits of detection for several compounds were all under 0.1 μg /1, some being less than 1 ng/1. Sorption efficiencies of >93% were found for a variety of compounds. The method will be attractive when sensitivity and freedom from volatilization losses and sampler‐related contamination are required.