Sample preparation and digestion considerations for determining metal deposition at small arms ranges

Determining the metal content of soil collected from small arms training ranges (SARs) is difficult and controversial because the contamination consists of fine particulates abraded from bullets and larger fragments such as intact bullets and spent shell casings. This heterogeneous distribution of m...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of environmental analytical chemistry 2010-10, Vol.90 (12), p.903-921
Main Authors: Clausen, Jay L., Kaste, James, Ketterer, Michael, Korte, Nic
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ammunition
copper
Firing ranges
Grinding
lead
Metals
sample preparation
Soil contamination
Soils
tungsten
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Summary:Determining the metal content of soil collected from small arms training ranges (SARs) is difficult and controversial because the contamination consists of fine particulates abraded from bullets and larger fragments such as intact bullets and spent shell casings. This heterogeneous distribution of materials can be difficult to sample reproducibly and difficult to prepare for analysis. Similar issues are encountered with sampling and analysing solid residues of energetic compounds for which grinding to 75 microns is necessary to achieve excellent precision. Issues to be resolved for SAR metals include the necessity of sieving, the extent of contamination from grinding, and the proper digestion procedure for efficient recovery. The work reported in this manuscript employed field and laboratory sampling approaches developed for energetics and examined a variety of laboratory sample preparation techniques for SAR metals. Application of the sampling approaches used for energetics to metals was straightforward. The US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) nitric acid digestion procedure is effective for the recovery of three of the most important SAR metals, copper, lead and zinc, when analysing a 2 g portion of the
ISSN:0306-7319
1029-0397
DOI:10.1080/03067310903353495