EN CORE® Sampler Performance: Storing Soil for VOC Analysis

The En Core® sampler is designed to collect and store soil samples in a manner that minimizes loss of contaminants due to volatilization and/or biodegradation. Use of this device is described in American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Practice D 6418, Standard Practice for Using the Disposable En Core Sampler for Sampling and Storing Soil for Volatile Organic Analysis. Two studies were performed to evaluate the performance of the En Core sampler to store VOC-contaminated soil for analysis. One study involved spiking soil samples with low concentrations of VOCs (less than 200?µg/kg) and storing them under various conditions prior to analysis. Results from this study show that the En Core sampler gives 80% or greater recoveries of low concentrations of VOCs from soil samples stored under a number of conditions. The second study was performed to generate data on the performance of the 25-g En Core sampler to store soil samples spiked with EPA Method 1311, Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP), volatile organic analytes. Results show that the En Core device gives 80% or greater recoveries of most of the Method 1311 volatile organic analytes from soil stored under various conditions for 14 days.