Clean Sampling of Mercury
EPA Region VI Pretreatment Conference Lisa Ellington and Ashley Barr Paragould Light, Water and Cable August 13, 2008 Reference EPA Method 1669 Sampling Ambient Water for Trace Metals at EPA Water Quality Criteria Levels Applicable to the following metals Antimony Arsenic Cadmium Chromium (III) Chromium (VI) Copper Lead Mercury Nickel Selenium Silver Thallium Zinc Protects sample from becoming contaminated Tyvek Coveralls
Spunbonded Olefin Fiber Flexible Hood, elastic wrists, booties Lab Safety Supply Catalog #8BB148823 Keeps sampling personnel from breathing directly into sample
Filtering facepiece Latex free Lab Safety Supply Catalog #8BB124269 Aids in the prevention of sample contamination
Latex, powder-free gloves Microflex Catalog #EV-2050 Sample bottle should be double-bagged
Dirty hands touches the outside bag only Clean hands touches inner bag and bottle Other Items Needed Field Blank Trip Blank Sampling Device
Bottle filled with Hg free water Exposed to same atmosphere as sample Trip Blank Do nothing with this bottle Sampling Device Plastic Sheeting Sampling Procedure Don appropriate equipment
Coveralls Mask Gloves Gather necessary items for sampling Dirty hands One pair of gloves Sample bottle Field blank Sampling device Sampling Procedure - continued
Clean hands Three to four pair of gloves Inner sampling bag Sample bottle Field blank Grab Samples Total of four Date and time Flow Contract lab composites Sampling Procedure - continued
Collect samples facing upstream and upwind when possible Samples can be collected on land or from a boat Grab technique used for surface samples Subsurface samples collected by suction or pumping Questions?