Passive sampling devices for rapid determination of soil contaminant distributions

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The effective remediation of contaminated waste sites requires accurate identification of chemical distributions. A rapid sampling method using passive sampling devices (PSDs) for soil contaminant characterization can provide a more thorough site assessment. We evaluated a PSD to estimate polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) levels in contaminated soils in both laboratory and field studies. PSD sampling increased with soil analyte concentration and decreased moisture content. For PSD calibration, we compared PCB concentrations in 36 PSDs and 18 soil samples. PSD uptake and soil concentration demonstrated a linear relationship with an r2 value of 0.86 and a slope of 0.88. PSD concentrations were then used to predict soil contaminant distributions at a hazardous waste site. Predicted soil concentrations ranged from 0.01 to 200 ppm as total aroclor 1254.