Da. Vroblesky et Wt. Hyde, DIFFUSION SAMPLERS AS AN INEXPENSIVE APPROACH TO MONITORING VOCS IN-GROUND WATER, Ground water monitoring & remediation, 17(3), 1997, pp. 177-184
Diffusion samplers installed in observation wells were found to be cap
able of yielding representative water samples for chlorinated volatile
organic compounds. The samplers consisted of polyethylene bags contai
ning deionized water and relied on diffusion of chlorinated volatile o
rganic compounds through the polyethylene membrane. The known ability
of polyethylene to transmit other volatile compounds, such as benzene
and toluene, indicates that the samplers can be used for a variety of
volatile organic compounds. In wells at the study area, the volatile o
rganic compound concentrations in water samples obtained using the sam
plers without prior purging were similar to concentrations in water sa
mples obtained from the respective wells using traditional purging and
sampling approaches. The low cost associated with this approach makes
it a viable option for monitoring large observation-well networks for
volatile organic compounds.