SUGGESTIONS
FOR REDUCTION
OF ANALYTICAL COSTS BY
ELIMINATION OF UNNECESSARY
QUALITY CONTROL (QC) SAMPLES
by Douglas M. Chatham
Senior Chemist
INTRODUCTION
This is the introduction to a series of four articles
presenting a rationale for collecting fewer QC samples for hazardous-waste
projects and encouraging project managers (PMs) and quality assurance
project officers (QAPOs) to question the need for every QC sample
or activity. Too many PMs and QAPOs incorporate every QC sample
mentioned in SW846 or CLP methods because they don't take the
time to think about how those samples are to be used, or because
they want to avoid having to justify eliminating QC samples to
an EPA project manager. Many field QC samples can be eliminated
from hazardous waste site investigations, resulting in significant
analytical cost savings, without any effect on the quality of
the overall investigation. The categories of QC samples or analyses
which could be reduced include second column confirmations, field
blanks, matrix spike and matrix spike duplicates, and duplicate
samples. Additional cost reductions could be realized through
careful selection of analytical methods and the use of on-site
methods, where feasible.
The QA/QC requirements for environmental investigations were derived
under CERCLA and RCRA with the purpose of generating legally defensible
results. Once the origin and responsibilities are established
for a site, the purpose of QA/QC should be adjusted to new DQOs.
Determining the extent of contamination, conducting RI/FS, and
monitoring remediations may be successfully accomplished with
field screening methods, on-site Level II analyses, and fixed
laboratory Level II, with some samples (generally 10%) confirmed
at Level III or Level IV.
About The Author
Douglas M. Chatham is currently a chemist and data manager
with the Air Quality Group of the Environmental Protection Division
of the state of Georgia (404-363-7072) and proprietor of Chatham
Ventures (404-939-7354), an independent environmental consulting
firm specializing in reviewing and editing Quality Assurance Project
Plans, auditing mobile laboratories, and conducting data review
and validation. Mr. Chatham spent 5 years as senior chemist and
field analytical specialist with the Atlanta office of Parsons
Engineering Science, 3 years as Organic Chemistry Section Head,
data reviewer, and project manager for NUS Corporation, and 10
years as Process Chemist and Trouble-shooter for USS Agri-Chemicals.
He has developed and presented a comprehensive series of seminars
on basic environmental chemistry, including presentation of the
Data Review and Validation topic at Clemson University and at
The Savannah River Plant and Principles of Gas Chromatography
and Mass Spectroscopy, and Data Quality, Review, and Validation
at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Mr. Chatham holds a B.S. Chem.
degree from the University of Georgia and an M.S. Chem. Degree
from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
