Field Analytical Development Application and Performance Verification

The ECMS Group has had, as one of its core foci, the development, application and performance verification of field analytical technology for environmental contaminants. Key sponsors have included the Departments of Defense and Energy, and the US EPA. We have developed new subsurface sampling systems, and new interfaces for mass spectrometers that permit the real time measurement of contaminants at ppb levels. This latter activity has resulted in a new EPA-sanctioned Method 8265 [Volatile Organic Compounds in Water, Soil, Soil Gas and Air by Direct Sampling Ion Trap Mass Spectrometry (DSITMS)]. Developing and applying statistically rigorous experimental designs for testing commercially available technologies under field-like conditions has been on-going for more than a decade. For several years, we were a key partner in EPA's Environmental Technology Verification program. Altogether technologies whoseperformance we have examined have included x-ray fluorescence systems, ion specific electrodes, portable gas chromatography, immunoassay technology, colorimetric testing, photo-acoustic spectrometry, ion mobility spectrometry, surface plasmon resonance (SPR), and decision support software systems. In some recent studies supported by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, we have even examine the performance of canines trained to detect explosives.

For information, contact Roger Jenkins or Marc Wise