Form Approved
REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE
OMB No. 0704-0188
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1. AGENCY USE ONLY (Leave blank)
2. REPORT DATE
3. REPORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED
May 1996
4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE
5. FUNDING NUMBERS
Comparison Criteria for Environmental Chemical Analyses of Split Samples
Sent to Different Laboratories: Corps of Engineers Archived Data
USAED-MRD
MIPR GP95-11
6. AUTHORS
Clarence L. Grant, Thomas F. Jenkins and Anand R. Mudambi
7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES)
8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION
REPORT NUMBER
U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory
72 Lyme Road
Special Report 96-9
Hanover, New Hampshire 03755-1290
9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES)
10. SPONSORING/MONITORING
AGENCY REPORT NUMBER
Office of the Chief of Engineers
Washington, D.C. 20314-1000
11. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES
12a. DISTRIBUTION/AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
12b. DISTRIBUTION CODE
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
Available from NTIS, Springfield, Virginia 22161
13. ABSTRACT (Maximum 200 words)
Data comparison criteria were developed for quality control (QC) and quality assurance (QA) chemical analyses
obtained during environmental studies directed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). Archived results for
124 sets of eight metals in soils, 69 sets of fourteen volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in soils, 163 sets of total petroleum
hydrocarbons (TPH) in soils, 79 sets of six explosives in soils, and 153 sets of fourteen VOCs in groundwater were
analyzed statistically. Concentration ratios (QC1/QC2 and QC/QA) were lognormally distributed and this was the
model used for comparisons. For both metals in soils and VOCs in groundwater, duplicate QC results should yield ratios
between 0.502.00; less than 4% of the archived results were outside these limits. For QC/QA ratios, the limits suggested
are 0.402.50; only 10.2% of metals ratios in soils and 5.6% of the VOCs in groundwater exceeded these limits.
Considering that both methods are multi-analyte, we find only 4.0% of the metals samples and 2.0% of the VOC samples
had more than one offending ratio per sample. Application of these limits to recent analyses produced very similar
results. For VOCs, TPH, and explosives in soils, temporary limits of 0.254.00 are suggested with the understanding that
improvements leading to tightening should be energetically pursued. Even with these wide limits, approximately 42%
of VOCs, 14% of TPH, and 11% of explosives QC/QA ratios must be considered outliers. Here, too, recent analyses
yielded very comparable percentages. The situation for VOCs in soils requires immediate attention to improve
sampling and preparation procedures, but all methods can and should be capable of producing improved agreement
between laboratories. Numerous recommendations are offered with this goal in mind.
14. SUBJECT TERMS
15. NUMBER OF PAGES
40
Explosives
Quality assurance
TPH
Groundwater
Soils
VOCs
16. PRICE CODE
Metals
Split sample analysis
17. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
18. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
19. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
20. LIMITATION OF ABSTRACT
OF REPORT
OF THIS PAGE
OF ABSTRACT
UNCLASSIFIED
UNCLASSIFIED
UNCLASSIFIED
UL
Standard Form 298 (Rev. 2-89)
NSN 7540-01-280-5500
Prescribed by ANSI Std. Z39-18
298-102
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