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
April 1997
4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE
5. FUNDING NUMBERS
Preparing Soil Samples for Volatile Organic Compound Analysis
6. AUTHORS
Alan D. Hewitt
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 97-11
Hanover, New Hampshire 03755-1290
9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES)
10. SPONSORING/MONITORING
AGENCY REPORT NUMBER
U.S. Army Environmental Center
Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland
SFIM-AEC-ET-CR97014
11. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES
For conversion of SI units to non-SI units of measurement consult Standard Practice for Use of the International System of
Units (SI), ASTM Standard E380-93, published by the American Society for Testing and Materials, 1916 Race St., Philadel-
phia, Pa. 19103.
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)
Three equilibrium headspace and three solvent extraction methods of preparing soil samples for determining
volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were compared. Soil samples were spiked with five gasoline range aromatic
compounds and four chlorinated compounds using two different laboratory procedures that limit volatilization
and biodegradation losses. All comparisons were made with sample triplicates of one or more soil types. Recov-
ery efficiencies for the preparation methods depended on soil organic carbon content, octanolwater partition
coefficients of specific analytes, length of solvent extraction, and the spiking procedure used. In general, metha-
nol extraction was the most robust method for recovering spiked VOCs. Recovery efficiencies for VOCs with
tetraethylene glycol dimethyl ether and poly(propylene)glycol, as well as three equilibrium headspace methods,
varied with the parameters tested.
14. SUBJECT TERMS
15. NUMBER OF PAGES
24
Recovery efficiency
Vapor partitioning
16. PRICE CODE
Sample preparation
Volatile organic compounds
Solvent extraction
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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