CLU-IN HomeSkip common site navigation and headers
What's Hot? What's New? Remediation Characterization and MonitoringTraining Initiatives and Partnerships Publications and Studio Databases Software and Tools TechDirect and Newsletters Vendor and Developer Support About CLU-IN

Technology Innovation and Field Services Division
CommentsSite MapEPA HomeCLU-IN Home
 
 

Method 8261: Using Surrogates to Measure Matrix Effects and Correct Analytical Results
Michael Hiatt
National Exposure Research Laboratory, US Environmental Protection Agency, 944 East Harmon Ave., Las Vegas, NV 89119 702-798-2381 hiatt.mike@epamail.epa.gov

Paper published in the Proceedings of WTQA '99 (15th Annual Waste Testing & Quality Assurance Symposium), p. 188.


This paper reports use of a vacuum distillation method to determine volatile organic compounds in difficult matrices incorporating a novel approach to optimizing QA requirements. The resultant method (SW-846 Method 8261, Update IVB) uses surrogate compounds representing the range of chemical properties of the method's analytes in order to measure matrix effects and to compensate for their biases. Method 8261 eliminates the need for matrix spike/matrix spike duplicates as well as calibration of instrumentation by matrix type. This paper presents the theory behind the surrogate corrections incorporated within the method.

-Return to Topical Papers on Environmental Data Quality
-View/Download Article (9K/PDF)