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?