A chemodynamic approach for estimating losses of target organic chemicals from water during sample holding time

• Published in: Chemosphere (Oxford) Vol. 30; no. 6; pp. 1097 - 1107
• Main Authors: Capel, Paul D., Larson, Steven J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 1995; Elsevier
• Subjects: Analysis methods; Applied sciences; Brackish; chemical reactions; chemodynamics; Exact sciences and technology; Freshwater; losses; Marine; Natural water pollution; organic chemicals; pesticide residues; pollutants; Pollution; preservation; sampling; sorption; volatilization; water; water pollution; water sampling; Water treatment and pollution; preservation; water sampling; organic chemicals; chemodynamics; Partition coefficient; Chemical analysis; Sampling; Volatilization; Loss; Organic compounds
• ISSN: 0045-6535; 1879-1298
• DOI: 10.1016/0045-6535(94)00004-E

Minimizing the loss of target organic chemicals from environmental water samples between the time of sample collection and isolation is important to the integrity of an investigation. During this sample holding time, there is a potential for analyte loss through volatilization from the water to the headspace, sorption to the walls and cap of the sample bottle, and transformation through biotic and/or abiotic reactions. This paper presents a chemodynamic-based, generalized approach to estimate the most probable loss processes for individual target organic chemicals. The basic premise is that the investigator must know which loss process(es) are important for a particular analyte, based on its chemodynamic properties, when choosing the appropriate method(s) to prevent loss.