Influence of Particle Size and Grinding on Measurement of Trace Metal Concentrations in Urban Anthropogenic Soils

Dubé, Jean-Sébastien; Sona, Mirela; Boudreault, Jean-Philippe; Hardy, E.P.

doi:10.1061/(asce)ee.1943-7870.0000825

Cited by 8 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Milling is not a common sample preparation process [28,29] and is not specified in USEPA Method 3050B , 3051, or 3052 [16,30,31], methods commonly followed to prepare solid samples. Clausen et al [32] showed simply collecting multiple increments in the field to form a composite sample only addresses distributional heterogeneity in the soil substrate, a finding consistent with Gy's sample theory [33,34]. Milling is necessary to address the compositional or constitutional heterogeneity for soils containing metallic residues [35,36], as well as energetics [12,37,38], by reducing the subsampling uncertainty prior to analysis.…”

Section: Sample Preparation and Milling Methodsmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…A potential side-effect of sample milling is the enhancement of acid extraction efficiency through the increase in the surface area of metallic residues, soil particles, and mineral grains present in a sample. A recent study focused on the > 2mm size fraction of an urban soil suggests milling does result in a significant concentration increase of many trace metals [33]. The two commonly used EPA methods 3050 and 3051 employ nitric and hydrochloric acids on a hot block (3050) and in open vessels in a microwave (3051) to dissolve metals for later analysis.…”

Section: Sample Preparation and Milling Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of milling on the metals analysis of soil samples containing metallic residues

Clausen¹,

Beal²,

Georgian³

et al. 2021

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Metallic residues are distributed heterogeneously onto small-arms range soils from projectile fragmentation upon impact with a target or berm backstop. Incremental Sampling Methodology (ISM) can address the spatially heterogeneous contamination of surface soils on small-arms ranges, but representative kilogram-sized ISM subsamples are affected by the range of metallic residue particle sizes in the sample. This study compares the precision and concentrations of metals in a small-arms range soil sample processed by a puck mill, ring and puck mill, ball mill, and mortar and pestle prior to analysis. The ball mill, puck mill, and puck and ring mill produced acceptable relative standard deviations of less than 15% for the anthropogenic metals of interest (Lead (Pb), Antimony (Sb), Copper (Cu), and Zinc (Zn)), with the ball mill exhibiting the greatest precision for Pb, Cu, and Zn. Precision by mortar and pestle, without milling, was considerably higher (40% to >100%) for anthropogenic metals. Media anthropogenic metal concentrations varied by more than 40% between milling methods, with the greatest concentrations produced by the puck mill, followed by the puck and ring mill and then the ball mill. Metal concentrations were also dependent on milling time, with concentrations stabilizing for the puck mill by 300 s but still increasing for the ball mill over 20 h. Differences in metal concentrations were not directly related to the surface area of the milled sample. Overall, the tested milling methods were successful in producing reproducible data for soils containing metallic residues. However, the effects of milling type and time on concentrations require consideration in environmental investigations.

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Section: Sample Preparation and Milling Methodsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Sample Preparation and Milling Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of milling on the metals analysis of soil samples containing metallic residues

Clausen¹,

Beal²,

Georgian³

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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Representativeness of laboratory sampling procedures for the analysis of trace metals in soil

Dubé

Boudreault

Bost

et al. 2015

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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This study was conducted to assess the representativeness of laboratory sampling protocols for purposes of trace metal analysis in soil. Five laboratory protocols were compared, including conventional grab sampling, to assess the influence of sectorial splitting, sieving, and grinding on measured trace metal concentrations and their variability. It was concluded that grinding was the most important factor in controlling the variability of trace metal concentrations. Grinding increased the reproducibility of sample mass reduction by rotary sectorial splitting by up to two orders of magnitude. Combined with rotary sectorial splitting, grinding increased the reproducibility of trace metal concentrations by almost three orders of magnitude compared to grab sampling. Moreover, results showed that if grinding is used as part of a mass reduction protocol by sectorial splitting, the effect of sieving on reproducibility became insignificant. Gy's sampling theory and practice was also used to analyze the aforementioned sampling protocols. While the theoretical relative variances calculated for each sampling protocol qualitatively agreed with the experimental variances, their quantitative agreement was very poor. It was assumed that the parameters used in the calculation of theoretical sampling variances may not correctly estimate the constitutional heterogeneity of soils or soil-like materials. Finally, the results have highlighted the pitfalls of grab sampling, namely, the fact that it does not exert control over incorrect sampling errors and that it is strongly affected by distribution heterogeneity.

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Sampling particulate matter for analysis – Controlling uncertainty and bias using the theory of sampling

Sona

Dubé

2021

Analytica Chimica Acta

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Influence of Particle Size and Grinding on Measurement of Trace Metal Concentrations in Urban Anthropogenic Soils

Cited by 8 publications

References 10 publications

Effects of milling on the metals analysis of soil samples containing metallic residues

Effects of milling on the metals analysis of soil samples containing metallic residues

Representativeness of laboratory sampling procedures for the analysis of trace metals in soil

Sampling particulate matter for analysis – Controlling uncertainty and bias using the theory of sampling

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