Evaluation of Methodology For Analysis of Organic Contaminants in Soil

Analytical methods for analysis of organic contaminants in soil were investigated. Two methods were evaluated for reproducibility, applicability to field site monitoring, and usefulness with common pollutants. An ultrasonic solvent extraction method was found to show promise for analysis of semivolatile organic contaminants. The method compared favorably with established techniques in terms of extraction efficiency and rapidity. An adaptation of the Grob Closed-Loop Stripping (CLS) Method was developed for analysis of volatile organics in soil. The method was shown to exhibit sufficient precision and accuracy for quantification of field samples. CLS was found to have lower detection limits and was applicable to a wider range of compounds than competing methods. However, these advantages were offset by the limited dynamic range and long analysis time of the method. CLS was used to determine the distribution of the organic solvent perchlorethylene (PCE) in the soil at a contaminated site.Master of Science in Public Healt