| Diffusion Samplers: When to Use |
Diffusion samplers are well suited to the long-term monitoring of groundwater at well characterized sites where specific volitile organic compounds (VOCs) are the sole target analytes. Diffusion samplers also have been shown to be an effective tool for characterization of vertical VOC stratification in the screened or open intervals of wells when (1) coupled with borehole flowmeter data and (2) the VOCs are known to be quantifiable using diffusion samplers and are the only target analytes.
Laboratory and/or field studies have found diffusion samplers to be applicable for a number of water-soluble, low-molecular weight volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including the following:
- Benzene
- Bromodichloromethane
- Bromoform
- Chlorobenzene
- Carbon tetrachloride
- Chloroethane
- Chloroform
- Chloromethane
- 2-chlorovinyl ether
- Dibromochloromethane
- Dibromomethane
- 1,2-dichlorobenzene
- 1,3-dichlorobenzene
- 1,4-dichlorobenzene
- Dichlorodifluoromethane
- 1,2-dichloroethane
- 1,1-dichloroethene
- cis-1,2-dichloroethene
- trans-1,2-dichloroethene
- 1,2-dichloropropane
- cis-dichloropropene
- 1,2-dibromoethane
- trans-1,3-dicholoropropene
- Ethyl benzene
- Naphthalene
- 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane
- Tetrachloroethene (PCE)
- Toluene 1,1,1-trichloroethane
- 1,1,2-trichloroethane
- Trichloroethene (TCE)
- Trichlorofluoromethane
- 1,2,3-trichloropropane
- Vinyl chloride
- Total xylenes
Numerous other VOCs are being tested and may prove to be appropriate for sampling via diffusion samplers.
References
- Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council (ITRC), 2002a, Recommendations for the Use of Polyethylene Diffusion Bag Samplers For the Long-Term Monitoring of Volatile Organic Compounds in Groundwater, The Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council, Diffusion Sampler Workgroup, November 6, 2002
- Parsons Engineering Science, Inc., 1999, Final Technical Report for the Evaluation of Groundwater Diffusion Samplers, McClellan AFB, Consultant's Report to the Air Force Center for Engineering and the Environment (AFCEE) Technology Transfer Division," Parsons Engineering Science, Inc., Denver, CO, December 1999.
- Vroblesky, D.A., 2001a. User's Guide for Polyethylene-Based Passive Diffusion Bag Samplers to Obtain Volatile Organic Compound Concentrations in Wells, Part 1: Deployment, Recovery, Data Interpretation, and Quality Control and Assurance, U.S. Geological Survey Water Resources Investigations Report 01-4060, 17p.
- Vroblesky, D.A., and Campbell, T.R., 2001, Equilibration Times, Stability, and Compound Selectivity of Diffusion Samplers for Collection of Ground-Water VOC Concentrations, Advances in Environmental Research, v. 5, no. 1, pp. 1-12.
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