EMT 401: Environmental Monitoring Systems & Techniques (3units)

Lecturers: Professor O. Bamgbose & Dr. O.S. Olatunji

Synopsis

Definition, general principles of environmental monitoring. Organisation of monitoring

programs for site and resource specific strategies. Classification of monitoring
techniques and use (physical, chemical, biological radioactive) global sources, sinks and
transport (mass balance) of both man-made and natural atmospheric trace
components. Ocean-atmosphere interactions, reversible effect of human activities on
the global environment e.g. green house effect, climate change, depletion of
stratosphere ozone layer, acid rain. Air pollution meteorology, chemistry and biology.
Atmosphere dispersion models. Elements of air pollution control. Sampling and air
monitoring techniques. Mechanism of pollutant interaction with soil and vegetation.
General principle of bio-testing, aquatic toxicity, types, bio-assays, data analysis and
interpretation.

LECTURE CONTENT

OBJECTIVE OF MONITORING
Monitoring of the environment may be undertaken for a number of reasons. In general
monitoring is done in order to gain information about the present levels of harmful or
potentially harmful pollutants in discharges to the environment, within the environment
itself or in living creatures that may be affected by these pollutants. This definition can
be expanded as follows:-

Monitoring may be carried out to assess pollution effects on man and his environment
in order to identify any possible cause and effect relationship between pollutant
concentration and health effects, climatic changes etc.

- To evaluate pollution interactions and patterns e.g. apportionment and

pollution patchily studies usually rely on environmental monitoring
- To assess the need for legislative controls and emissions of pollutants and to
ensure compliance with emission standards.

Steps in the design of a monitoring programme

 OBJECTIVES

Site selection & number measured parameters to be duration of survey

Measured

Sampling methods

Equipment Selection

Analytical techniques

Calibration methods

Data recording

Data Analysis

Data presentation

Information Dissemination

- In areas prone to acute pollution, episodes monitoring may be carried out in

order to activate emergency produced.
- In order to obtain a historical record of environmental quality and so provide
a data base for future use e.g. epidemiological studies.
- To ensure the suitability of water supply for a proposed use (industrial or
domestic) or to ensure the suitability of and for a proposed use (e.g. housing)

A basic problem in the design of a monitoring programme is that each of the above
reasons for carrying out monitoring demands different answers to a number of
questions e.g. no and location of sampling sites, the duration of the survey, and the
time resolution of sampling will all vary according to the use to which the collected data
are to be put. Decisions on what to monitor, when and where to monitor and how to
monitor are often made much easier once the purpose of monitoring is clearly defined:-
It is most important that the first step in the design of a monitoring programme should
be to set out the objectives of the study.

TYPES OF MONITORING
Pollutant sources may be classified by their spatial distribution as point sources, (e.g.
industrial chimneys, liquid waste discharge pipes); line sources or area sources (e.g.
high ways, airline routes and run-off from agricultural land. Sources may also be
classified as either statutory or mobile or on the basis of height of discharge for air
pollutants i.e. at street level, building level, stack level or above the atmospheric
boundary layer level.

An important distinction may be made between planned, fugitive and accidental

emissions to the environment.

- Planned emission arises when (as is invariably the case) it is economically or

technically impossible to completely remove all the contaminants in a
discharge and hence the process operation allows pollutants to be discharged
to the environment at known and controlled rates. E.g. SO2 from power
generation plants and low level radioactive effluent during nuclear fuel
reprocessing.

- Fugitive emission: - arises when pollutants are released in an unplanned way

normally without first passing through the entire process. They therefore
occur at a point sooner in the process that the stack or duct designed for
planned emissions. They generally originate from operations which are
uneconomic or impractical to control, have poor physical arrangements for
effluent control or are poorly maintained or managed e.g. escape of heavy
metal contaminated dust from a lead works on vehicle tires arising from poor
dust control and wheel washing arrangement

- Accidental emissions results from plant failure, such as burst filter bag or
faulty value, or from an accident involving either equipment or operator error
or (e.g. the Chernobyl reactor accident). Accidental emissions can give rise
to very high concentration but they normally occur infrequently.

Based on this classification, monitoring can be done in two ways (I) Sampling taken
from the effluent before discharge to the environment without consideration of source
strengths and rates and (ii) Sampling from the ambient environment without
consideration of source strength and rates. Since either method may not prove
satisfactory as regards provision of necessary data required to resolve a problem it is
often desirable to complement one with the other.

SOURCE MONITORING
This may be carried out for a number of reasons
- Determination of the mass emission rates of pollutants from a particular
source and assessment of how these are affected by process variations
 - Evaluation of the effectiveness of control devices for pollution abatement
- Evaluation of compliance with statutory limitations on emissions from
individual sources.

STATIONARY SOURCE SAMPLING FOR GASEONS EMISSIONS

A common feature of many industrial processes is that effluent output exhibits cyclical
patters. Two requirements have been specified for valid source monitoring. First the
sample should accurately reflect the true magnitude of the pollutant emission at a
specific point in the stack at a specific instant time. This requirement is met by
adequate sampling instrument design. Secondly, enough measurements should be
obtained over time and space so that their combined result will accurately represent the
entire source emission.

In a circler flue, sampling at the cancroids of equal area annular segments will ensure
that emission variations across the stack cross-section are quantified. In a rectangular
flue, sample points should be located at the cent rods of smaller equal area rectangles.
Generally 8-12 sampling points are adequate to compensate for any deficiencies in the
location of the sampling site with respect to the length of the stack and to non-ideal
flow conditions at the site caused by bends, inlets or outlets.

MOBILE SOURCE SAMPLING FOR GASEOUS EFFLUENTS

Vehicle and air craft emission are heartily dependent upon the engine operating mode
(i.e. idling, accelerating, cruising or decelerating) and the results obtained by sampling
must be considered specific to the type of operating cycle used during the test.
Emission tests are usually performed with the vehicle on a dynamometer equipped with
inertia fly wheels to stimulate the vehicle height and brake loading on a level road.

SOURCE MONITORING FOR LIQUID EFFLMENTS.

Liquid wastes and effluents like gaseous effluents tend to be inhomogeneous and care
is needed in selecting sampling position. Several samples may have to be taken across
the cross – section of a pipe or channel. Sampling from vertical pipes is less liable to be
affected by deposition of solids than sampling from horizontal pipes and a distance of
approximately 25 pipe diameters downstream from the last inflow would ensure that
mixing of the two streams is complete. In cases where suitable homogeneous regions
for sampling cannot be found particularly where suspended materials are present,
samples may have to be taken from several positions along the effluent stream.

Where the composition of a liquid effluent is known to vary with time, grab samples
may be collected at set intervals either manually or by use of an automatic sampler. An
alternative approach is to sample at intervals varying with the flow rate so that a more
representative composite may be obtained.

SOURCE MONITORING FOR SOLID EFFLUENTS.

Solid effluents may arise from a number of different processes including sludge after
sewage treatment, ash residue from municipal incinerators, or low grade gypsum from
desulphurization plants attached to coal fired power stations. In general solid wastes
are even less homogeneous than either liquid or gaseous effluents, therefore great
effort must be made to ensure that samples are representative of the bulk waste.
Monitoring of sewage sludge is particularly common due to sludge acting as an efficient
sorption material for heavy metals. Typically 80 – 100% of the input lead in a sewage
plant is incorporated into the sludge resulting in sludge lead concentration of 120 –
3000 µg g-1 consideration must therefore be given to the concentration of pollutants in
the material before it is used as fertilizer, incinerated, dumped at sea or used as land
fill.

AMBIENT ENVIRONMENT MONITORING

Monitoring the environment may be carried out for a number of reasons, however the
most important factor when designing such a programme is to ensure that the samples
obtained provide adequate data for the purpose intended i.e. the samples should be
representative of conditions prevailing in the environment at the time and place of
collection: - Not only must the sampling location be carefully chosen but also the
sampling position at the chosen location.

The selection of a specific monitoring site requires consideration of four steps.

- Identify the purpose to be served by monitoring

- Identify the monitoring site types that will best serve the purpose
- Identify the general location where the sites should be placed
- Finally identify specific monitoring sites.

AMBIENT AIR-MONITORING
Air pollution problems vary widely form area to area and from pollutant to pollutant.
Differences in meteorology, topography, source characteristics, pollutant behaviour and
legal and administrative constraints mean that monitoring programmers will very in
scope, content and duration along with the types of stations chosen. However ambient
air monitoring sites may be divided into several categories.

(a) Source-oriented sites for monitoring individual or small groups of emitters as

part of a local surrey (e.g. a particular factory)
 (b) Sites in a more extensive survey (such as the UK national survey of air
pollution for smoke and SO2) which may be located in areas of highest
expected pollutant concentrations, high population density or in rural areas to
give a complete nationwide coverage.
(c) Base-line stations to obtain background concentrations usually in remote or
rural areas with no anticipated changes in land use.

LOCATION OF SOURCE-ORIENTATED MONITORS

Occasionally the effects and impact of a specific pollutant source are of sufficient
interest or importance to warrant a special survey. This will usually include a site at the
point of anticipated maximum ground level concentration (which can be estimated from
dispersion calculation) and also a nearby site to characterize the background conditions
in the areas.

Examination of meteorological record will usually be necessary in order to choose

suitable locations for the sites and several computerized models are available for
determining the areas of maximum average impact from a point source. It is more
reasonable to locate the monitoring site slightly beyond the predicted region of
maximum concentration. This allows some margin for error by placing he monitor in a
region of relatively small concentration gradients. It is also desirable for obvious
reasons to have an array of stations at differing distances and directions from the
source (e.g. 4 – 6 samplers for monitoring a single point source).

LOCATION OF MONTORS IN LARGE – SCALE SURVEYS.

Often it is important to know the geographical extent of atmospheric pollution and to
have localized information on source strengths or ground level concentration may not
be sufficient. For example in UK, the National survey of Air pollution (NSAP 1961) show
the importance for the need for the acquisition of a nationwide, day to day and long
term bank of SO2 and smoke concentration. The original network of 1,200 sites was
based on the assumption that it was necessary to monitor in rural areas (150 sites) and
different types of urban areas such as high density residential areas, industrial areas,
commercial areas and smoke controlled areas.
Since the application of this scheme many of the original stations have ceased
monitoring, others have been replaced while additional stations have been added.
Reasons for these changes include the need to monitor recently established smoke
control areas new industrial estates and redeveloped areas, and surveys around new
and projected power stations. In 1981 a rationalized long term network of 150 NSAP
stations was proposed to be redesignated as UK smoke and SO2 monitoring net work.
About 400, existing sites were retained in the short term to provide continuation of
monitoring in urban areas where the European community quality standards for smoke
and SO2 may be approached or exceeded. As concentration fall to acceptable levels in
each urban area these sites are discontinued with. The design of monitoring networks
for air pollution has been treated in several different ways. For example sites may be
located in areas of severest public health effects, which involves consideration of
pollutant concentration, exposure time, population density and age distribution,
alternatively the frequency of occurrence of specific meteorological conditions and the
strength of sources may be used to maximize monitor coverage of a region with limited
resources.

LOCATION OF REGIONAL – SCALE SURVEY MONITORS

On the regional or global scale, monitoring is usually concerned with long term changes
in background concentration of pollutants and so the principal sitting requirement is
that truly representative baseline or background levels may be measured over a long
time period without interference from local sources. It has been suggested that
baseline stations should be located in areas where no significant changes in land use
practices are anticipated for at least 50yrs within 100km of the station and should be
away from population centers, major highways and air routes.

ENVIRONMENTAL WATER MONITORING

Pollutants enter the aquatic environment from the air (by dry deposition or in
precipitation occurring either directly onto the water surface or else where within the
catchments area) from the land (either in surface run-off or via sub-surface waters) and
directly through effluent discharges (either domestic industrial or agricultural). The
undesirable effects of pollutants in natural water may be due to

Stimulation of water plant growth (entrophication) which ultimately leads to

deoxygenating of the water and major ecological change.
(a) Their direct or indirect toxic effects on aquatic life
(b) The loss of amenity and practical value of water body particularly as a source of
water for public supply.

SOURCE OF MONITORING
Apart from the monitoring of pollutants in liquid effluents, sampling may be carried out.

(a) In rivers, lakes, estuaries and the sea in order to obtain an overall indication of
water quality
(b) For rain water, groundwater and run-off water PARTICULARLY IN THE urban
environment ) to assess the influence of pollutant sources
(c) At points where water is taken for supply, to cheek its suitability for a particular
use
(d) Using sediments and biological samples in order to assess the accumulation of
pollutants and as indicators of pollution.

Apart from the measurement of chemical and physical parameters the quantitative or
qualitative assessment of aquatic flora and fauna is often used to give a hesitation of
the presence or absence of pollution, and well recognized relationships exist between
the abundance and diversity of species and the degree of pollution. This is often used
to assess the cleanliness of natural fresh waters (biological monitoring)

LOCATION OF SAMPLING SITES

There are two main causes of heterogeneous distribution of quality in a water body.
- If the system is composed of two or more waters which are not fully mixed
(such as in thermally stratified lakes or just below an effluent discharge in a
river if the pollutant distributes non – informally in a homogeneous water
body.

Explain:- Chemical / biological rxn occur non uniform, need to ascertain degree of
mixing via preliminary survey before sampling.

Sampling locations should generally be at points as representative of the bulk of the

water body as possible e.g. away from the river or lake banks or the walls of channels
or pipes but often it will be desirable (necessary) to take samples from several locations
in order to obtain the required information.

When sampling from rivers and streams, downstream of effluent discharge,

longitudinal, transverse and vertical sampling arrays may be necessary to ensure that
truly representative data are obtained.

Studies of pollutants require sampling at considerable distances downstream of effluent

inputs e.g. investigating the decease in D O content. When a temporary varying
effluent discharge is under study it may be desirable to sample as close to the point of
discharge as mixing allows in order to monitor short-term variations in concentration
however if long-term average water quality is of interest then sampling should be
carried out further down stream where longitudinal dispersion and mixing will have
smoothened out the short time variations.

Sampling in estuaries is more difficult in respect of spatial and temporal variability.

Appropriate location for sampling will vary from estuary to estuary and will depend on
the parameters of interest but a minimum of 50 samples per survey might be
appropriate.

Explain relationship between dilution, salinity and pollutant concentration in the case of
lakes and reservoir Vertical stratification of pollutants may be pronounced due to a
reduction in dissolved oxygen from the surface down words. A minimum of three
samples is often considered necessary at below the surface, in above the bottom and at
an intermediate point.

SEDIMENT, SOIL AND BIOLOGICAL MONITORING

Soil and sediments may become polluted in a number of ways (disposal of industrial
and domestic solid wastes, wet and dry deposition from the atmosphere and infiltration
by contaminated waters) and the main pollution hazards on land from such
contamination include

- Harmful substances in soil or plants and subsequently into food supply

- Substance washed from land and as such pollute water supplies
- Contaminants may be resuspended and subsequently inhaled
- Land my be potentially dangerous or unsuitable for future use (e.g. housing
or agriculture)
- Ecological system may be damaged with consequent loss to conservation and
amenity.

Some potentially harmful substances such as mercury or lead are naturally present in
soils but at concentration which are not normally deleterious. Some activities however
can cause elevated levels of these compounds e.g. mining may cause soils to be
contaminated by metals and the dumping of solid wastes in land will invariably
introduce a wide variety of pollutants to the soil. On the other hand there are
compounds which do not occur naturally, and their presence in soils and sediments is
due entirely to man’s activities. These substances include pesticides (particularly the
organo-chlorine compounds such as DDT, aldrin, dieldrin) and artificial audio nuclides
(137Cs, 106Rm)

It is also usual to monitor background levels in soil, sediment and vegetation e.g. is the
geochemical survey of stream bed sediments ‘cos stream sediments are considered to
represent a close approximation to a composite sample of the weathering and erosion
products of rock and soil upstream of the sampling point and in the absence of pollution
provide information on the regional distribution of the elements.

A second type of monitoring is required to establish actual levels of contamination in

land or sediments known to be affected y pollutants. In this case much more specific
and localized monitoring may be required in order to quantify the degree of
contamination.

The contamination of sites often arises from their previous uses, particularly as coal gas
manufacturing plants, savage works, smelters, waste disposal sites, chemical plants and
scrap yards. A typical contaminant site may be found to contain variable concentrations
of toxic elements and organic compounds, phenols, coal tars and oils, combustible
material from unrecompensed refuse, acidic and alkaline waste sludge’s and sometimes
methane accumulations.
In addition contaminated land is often formed by waste tapping and so may be poorly
compacted and very inhomogeneous. Some sites may contain underground pip work
and stevedores from their previous uses and so present sampling problems site
investigation of this type is very expensive involving bore holes or trial it’s and in cases
where a detailed history is unavailable, determination of a large number of pollutants
must be done. common problems that have been encountered include

- An inadequate number of samples

- Inadequate range of determinant
- Bulking of samples when individual samples from specific locations are
preferable
- Inappropriate analytical methods
- Inadequate referencing of sample locations
- Inadequate description of samples
- Inadequate descriptions of trial pit strata
- An ignorance of the nature of the required information.

Monitoring should be carried out following the application of sewage sludge or waste
water to agricultural land. Samples of surface water, ground water, site soil, vegetation
and the sludge applied would normally be tested for faucal coli form, nutrient,
heavy metals and pH. The results may then be compared with predicted levels derived
from the application rates of sludge’s to land, soil type, nitrogen, phosphorus and heavy
metal contents of the waste and the nutrient uptake characteristics of the cover crop.

When monitoring back ground levels and more specific pollution on land or in the
sediments of a water body measurements will often be made of levels in the plants or
organisms that the soil or sediments supports. In May cases flora or fauna provide
excellent indicators of the degree of pollution as they may act as bioconcentrators (e.g.
heavy metals from suspended material in shell fish). Also it is important to monitor
pollution levels in food and through the food chain and this justifies. The simultaneous
measurement of pollutant levels in soils an plenty as well as in water, sediments and
aquatic biota. However relationship between levels in these various media is often not
simple and sampling and analysis of one of these is no substitute for a comprehensive
monitoring programmed. E.g. laboratory experiments indicated that metals are readily
absorbed by the water hyacinth (Euphoria crassipes, but measurements of nickel, cd,
Zn, Co and Pb in river water samples and water hyacinths revealed a lack of correlation
between the corresponding pairs of concentration (mattock et al Monitoring of metal
pollution in tropical rivers by sampling and analysis of corona Crassipes).

Also high concentration of Ni Pb, Zn were found in the plants of rivers known to receive
effluents containing metals, even when elevated levels were not detected in the water
samples. The reason for this could be due to water samples being taken during periods
of low waste discharge where as plants taken at the some time would show elevated
concentrations having retained metals from periods of high water concentration
An example of the large scale use of aquatic biota as a medium for the monitoring of
pollutants in coastal water is the US mussel watch programmed – program began in
1976 with the overall aim of providing strategies for pollutant monitoring in costal
waters using mussel and oysters collected on the west, East and gulf const of the USA.
Analysis of trace metal chlorinated hydrocarbons, petroleum hydrocarbons and
radionuclide (238 Pb, 239+240PKn & 241Am) were carried out at 3 laboratories with
extensive intercalibration studies used to ensure compatibility of data. Results from the
study show that for metals monitoring need not be yearly but some multiple of years
for a give site. They also suggested baseline concentration for bivalves in unpolluted
waters. The programmed also established the imperatives of systematic repetitive
sampling at the same sites over periods of years which allowed elevated Cod and Pub
concentration in some areas to be attributed to coastal upwelling rather than as a
consequence of localized anthropogenic sources (E.D Goldberg et al Ever).
Concentration 1978 5, 101 – 125.

SAMPLING METHOS
Filtration is the most common technique for sampling particulate matter. The filter
materials are (a) cellulose filter paper for determination of metals and anions (b) glass
fiber for analysis of organic compounds and (c) silica felts for trace inorganic species
and organic compound

The methods most commonly used for the collection of atmospheric particulate samples
are
- Filtration impingement:- wet or dry impingers, cascade impactors,
sedimentation by gravity in stagnant air, thermal precipitators, cyclones and
centrifugal force and cyclones.

Whereas for gaseous samples are adsorption absorption, condensation and grab
sampling

FILTRATION
The type of filter medium chosen will depend on a number of factors. These include
the collection efficiency for a given particle size pressure drop and flow characteristics
of the filter type. On this basis we have the following types of filters.

IMPINGERS
Collect particles from a relatively high velocity air stream directed at a surface. The
device is a dry impinger when the collecting surface is dry and wet impinger when the
collecting surface is wet. Dry impingers of the cascade impactor type can differenciate
particles according to their size. Cascade impactors use the aerodynamic impaction
projectiles of particles to separate the sample into different size fractions by use of
sequential sets and collection surface. i.e. it directs the air stream against collection
slides through increasingly signal curticles and provides for stepwise collection of
smaller particles. In principle the smaller orifices consists of up to seven stages backed
by a membrane filter, each stage containing accurately drilled holes which align over a
solid portion of the adjacent plates. The holes in each successive stage are smaller
than those in the preceding plate and since air is drawn through the instrument at a
constant flow rate the effective velocity at each stage increases leading to
fractionalization of the sample at each stage.

The largest particles are impacted on the first stage and the smallest are collected on
the back-up filter. Other problems of cascade impactor sampling include wall losses
and the aggregation of particles and the mechanical breaking of agglomerates which
resuct in inaccurate site distribution measurements

SEDIMENTATION
This is the collection of particulate material by allowing it to deposit into a collection
vessel by gravity. However the presence of the bowl or cylinder in the path of the
falling particles will change their flow pattern and it is not clear whether the collected
materials are truly representative of actual conditions. The British standard deposit
gauge consists of a collection bowl connected to a bottle and suspended by a
galvanized steel stand.

During wet weather dust is washed down from the bowl but during dry wealthier high
winds may blow dust out of or into the bowl so producing erroneous dust loading. At
the end of the sampling period (usually one month) a measured volume of water is
used to wash any dust in the bowl into the collection bottle and the pH, total particulate
mass, and water volume determined. A major disadvantage of the standard deposit
gauge is that no directional resolution of the particulate material is possible. This has
been resolved with the introduction of the directional deposit which consists of four
cylinders mounted on a common post with open slots facing the four quadrants of the
compass. Each cylinder has removable collection bottle at its base. The siting of
deposit gauges often presents problems e.g when attempting to monitor emissions
from one major source the use of several directional gauges around the source may be
successful in confirming that emissions occur from that source, however in areas of
multiple sources or where there is significant atmospheric turbulence (e.g in built up
areas) inconclusive data may be obtained. It should be noted however that the
standard deposit gauge (SDG) is more effective for collection of large particles which
settle under gravity while the vertical slots of the DDG collect smaller particles impacted
by the wind more effectively.
Electrostatic samples: Are very efficient for collection of small particles. These are
also smaller versions of pollutant control devices. On entering the sampler, particles
pickup charge as they pass through an electrical discharge between electrodes
maintained at a potential difference of up to 30, 000 V. The small charged particles in
a gas steam lose their charge in contact with an electrode (oppositely charge) and
accumulate on the electrode.

Thermal precipitations:- May be used for collection of aerosol particles of 0.00lu size
with high efficiency. They work on the principle that suspended particles move to lower
temperature regions when exposed to a high temp gradient.

ADSORPTION
The adsorption of gases is a surface phenomenon. Gas molecules become bound by
intermolecular attraction to the surface of a collection phase and so become
concentrated.
Under equilibrium conditions at constant temp, the volume of gas adsorbed on the
collection phase is proportional to the positive power of the partial pressure of the gas
and is also dependent upon the relative surface area of the adsorbent. Materials
commonly used as adsorbents include activated carbon, silicagel, allumina and various
porous polymers. Certain precautions must be taken in selecting a suitable adsorption
medium – Relative affinity for polar or non-polar compounds e.g activated carbon (non-
polar) will absorb non-polar organic gases but exclude pola compounds.

- Adsorbent must not react chemically with the collected sample unless
chemisorptions is being used.
- Analyte must not react with other constituents of the sampled air.
- The retention volume of the adsorbent must be known (the vol of air which
may be passed without break through of the analyte) with respect to the
species being collected
- Desorption property must also be know in order to ensure quantitative
recovery of the sample

ABSORPTION
A general method of collection of gageous pollutants is absorption in a solvent such as
by bubbling the gas through a liquid. Pure water is adequate for collecting some
gaseous pollutants such as HF. Alkaline solutions are required for absorbing acidic
gaes, acidic solutions for collecting alkaline gases and oils for collecting hydrocarbon.
Optimum conditions for efficient sampling are small bubble size and increase residence
time of the absorbing device. The absorber used are of various types impinge, counter,
current scrubbers, pack columns and fitted glass scrubbers.

Condersation or cold trapping:- By cooling an air steam to temperatures below

the boiling point of the analyte being investigated it is possible to condense gases from
the air and so concentrate them. Fractionation is achieved by using collectors
maintained at progressively lower temperatures i.e the first collector is maintained in an
ice bath (OoC) and the last collector in a liquid nitrogen bath (-196oC). However a
limitation of the method is that water vapour present in the air will also freeze and so
progressively block the trap. This may be overcome by using a first trap of large
volume designed to collect water and a second trap at a sufficiently low temp to collect
analytes.

Grab sampling:- Rather than utilizing a concentration technique in the filed, samples
may be collected in an impermeable container and returned to the laboratory for
analysis. Grab sample of this type have been collected in FEP. Teflon gabs for
hydrocarbon determination by EC. In these techniques deflated bag is contained within
a rapid box which is slowly evacuated.
Air is thus drawn into the flexible bag which may be sealed when inflated. Samples
can then be drawn at a later stage from the bag by hypodermic gas tight syringe.

Filters have been used in high volume air sample. These are used to pump large
volumes of air up to 2000m3 at rate of about 1.7m3/mn. The filters used consists of
glass fibers and have a collection efficiency of more than 99% for particles with 0.8µ
diameter. Particle with diameters exceeding 100µ remain on the filter surface whereas
particles with diameters down to about 0.1µ are collected on the glass fibers in the
filters. Sampling is desirable at places where people work. For this purpose light
weight battery operated pumps are use which can pump air at 24min-1 through a
3.7cm. glass fibre paper for up to 8hrs. Samples of polluted air are collected at several
points to build up a picture of the distribution of an air pollutant. Samples collected by
filters are analysed chemically by weighing, by microscopes and by particle sising by
gravimetry and extraction techniques to remove the material for chemical analysis

FLOW MEASUREMENT AND AIR MOVING DEVICES.

When measuring he concentration of an air borne constituent it is necessary to know
the volume of air sampled. This may be achieved either by measuring the rate of flow
with a rate meter or by directly measuring the volume of air passed with a dry a met
test gas meter (or a cycloid gas meter). All these devices required calibration and
regular checking for leaks. As air volume is dependent upon both temperature and
pressure the measurements of these two parameters at the meter inlet is essential so
that volumes may be expressed at standard temperature pressure.

WATER SAMPLING METHODS

For analysi of natural and waste water two principal types of sampling procedures are
employed
1. spot or grab samples are discrete portions of water samples taken at a given
time. A series of grab samples collected from different depths at a given site,
reflect variations in constituents over a period of time. The total number of
grab samples should satisfy the requirement of the sampling programme. The
main requirement is that a portion of the material under investigation small
 enough in volume to be transported and handled conveniently but still
accurately representing the bulk material to be collected. Usually a 0.5 –
2dm3 volume is sufficient. When samples are required from depth two types
of collection vessel may be used. The first consists of a cylinder with hinged
lids at both ends. The container is lowered into the water with both lids
opened at the desired depth a messenger weight sent down the wire which
closes them.
2. This type is not suitable for trace metal work as contaminated surface water
may result in contamination of the vessel and the messenger may scour
metallic particles from the wire. The second type consists of a sealed
container filled with air which is lowed to the required depth. A messenger
is again sent down to open and another to close.

Composite samples:- are essentially weighted series of grab samples, the volume
of each being proportional to the rate of flow of the water stream at the time and site
of sample collection. Samples may be composited over any time period such as 4,8,24
hours depending on the purpose of analysis. Such composite sample are useful for
determing the average condition which when correlated with flow can be used for
computing the material balance of a stream of water body over a period of time. A
recent innovation is the use of adsorption or filtration media to concentrate the species
of interest insitu. Using a completely self contained sealed unit of next material housing
a peristaltic pump and power supply with only the adsorption tube or inlet and outlet
open to the water, contamination of the sample can be completely voided, very large
volume of water may be processed. Which ever method of collecting samples is
adopted care must be taken to ensure that neither sample storage containers nor any
collecting resells used contaminate or alter the samples such may occur as follows.

(a) Leaching of contaminates from the surface of imperfectly cleaned

containers
(b) Leaching of organic substances from plastics or silica and sodium or
other metals from glass
(c) Adsorption of trace metals into glass surfaces or organics outo plastic
surfaces. In the case of metals this may be poor acidification of the
container but this may in turn reverse the problem in (a) above
(d) Reaction of the sample with the container material e.g fluid may react
with glass.
(e) Change in equilibrium between pollutants in particulate and solution
phases.
Different determinants require different methods of preservation in order to prevent
present significant changes between the time of sampling and of analysis. Generally
acidification at pH 2 and refrigeration to 4oC will be adequate although complete
stability of every constituent can rever be granted and at best chemical, physical and
biological processes affecting the samples can only be slowed down.
The preservation techniques for various parameters are given below:

Parameter Minimum Simple size Container Preservation

pH 100 p measured with 0-4hrs
Do 100 p
COD 500 p Add H2s04 to refrigerate.
Nitrogen 500 p Add0.8ml H2S04 and analyze as
soon as pursed
N03-N0-2 500 p Add 40 mg Hg Cl214 and
refigeration
Cyande 500 p Add NaoH to pH 12 and 25ml of 2%
ascorbic acid and refrigerate
Sulphide 500 p Add lwl of 2N Zn acetate, 2ml of im
NaCN and Rf
Phrsphate 500 p/glass Add 40mg Hgcl2 & Rf
Phenol 500 p/glass Acidity with H3PO4 to pH 4 add
lg
cuSo43. 5H2O to inhibit biodegrading
Tannin and 500 p/glass Analyse as soon as passible
Cr, As, Pb, 500 p/glass Add 5ml con HNO3l & and Rf
Zn, Hg
Baterial / 500 glass bottle sterotoze the bottles in anto Claves at
121OC at 15lb/inch2 pressure for15mins
refreferate.
Microplankto 500 Glass bottle add snd formalin per 100 sample
Algave and othor and Rf
Biological organisms

SOIL AND SEDIMENT SAMPLING METHODS

Soil and sediments are typically very inomogeneous media and large lateral and vertical
variations in texture, bulk composition after content and pollutant content may be
expected. For this reason large numbers of samples may be required to characterize a
relatively small area. Other surface scraping may be taken it is often necessary to
obtain cores so that vertical frofiles of the determinmas may be obtained or cumulative
deposition estimated.

Plastic or chromium plated steel tuborg of 2.5cm internal diameter is often suitable and
if the samples are sealed into the tubes and air excluded, they may be satisfactory
stored at low tempe unitl required. Otherwise they may be extruded in the field and
stied in plastic bags.
Grab samples of soils are easily obtained manually and stored in cteaned plastic bags.
Sometimes composite samples formed by the bulking together of a number of individual
samples may be sufficient but generally analyses of individual samples is to be
preferred. In the case of sediments grab samples are available for operation at
considerable depths e.g ponar, orange peel and Peterson grabs. Alternatively a dredge
may be used to obtain a composte sample along a strip of the sediment surface. Wet
soils and sediments which are to be analyzed still wet should not be collected or stored
in bags but in rigid containers. The vesells should be filled as completely as possible
leaving no airspace as a bung inserted so as to displace excess water without admitting
air. Some determinants in soils and sediments are liable to change during storage and
require the use of preservation techniques. For example nitrate in soil can be extracted
into pottassiumchloride solution and preserved with toluene. Usually however air-dried
soils and sediment may be disaggregated sub-sampled by coming and quartering and
stored in suitable container but as always sample contamination must be avoided at
each stage.

There are impotant effects associated with grain size which should be considered in the
analysis of soil or sediment. Firts may pollutants are associated with particle surface
and therefore occur in highest conc. in the smaller grain sized material. Secondly sub
sampling from a bulk sample may be very difficult due to size segregation effects and it
my be necessary to grind the sample to a very fine powder to ensure homogeneity prior
to division of the sample.

DURATION AND EXTENT OF SURVEY

The duration of a pollution monitoring programme is entirely dependent upon the
purpose and can vary from the time take to collect a limited number of for example
street dust samples in an urban area to tens of years for long term surveillance projects
such as the UK national survey of air pollution.

The choice of the frequency of sampling i.e the duration of each sample period and the
internal between successive measure. It is also deferent upon the objective of the
study.

Pollutant conc. in air and water fluctuate with varying degrees of rapidity and in order
to charactarise their behavior it is necessary to measure these changing levels, long
term mean data may be sufficient for some purposes but will not be adequate where
information of short term high level episodes is required. Generally it has been found
that if random sampling techniques are used the number of samples required will
increase as the standard geotectonic deviation of the pollutant conc. increase ie the
greater the fluctuation of the pollutant level, the more numerous the sample that must
be taken to accurately assess the variation. If the variations during the period of
interest are essentially random, independent and normally distributed then the no of
samples which must be taken in order to estimate the period mean within certain limits
and prescribed confidence limits may be calculated. As a more general guideline it may
be assumed to be necessary to have a sampling interval at least ten times shorter than
the fluctuation cycle time. e.g the entire variance structure of a diurnally fluctuary
pollutant conc. may be obtained from roughly 12 samples each with a 2hr averaging
period. If the annual trend of levels is required then probably 12 monthly samples each
year would be adequate.

Although a continuous and instantaneous record of pollutant level may be required for
some purposes.

- Fast response continuous monitors are now available for the more common
gaseous pollutants and for many determination of water quality. They do not generally
have a predictable response and cannot be calibrated solely in terms of chemical
stoichiometry and hence need calibration with a standard atmosphere or solution some
of the commonly employed fats response methods of gaseous air pollutant
analysis/water analysis are presented below

Pollutant Meaturement technique Sample Respnse Minimim

Total Hydr NDIR 30mn 5s 1ppm
Carbodrixide NDIR 11hr 0.5s 1ppb
Catalylic methanation / FID 1h 5s 1appb
Electrochemical cell 1hr 25s 1ppm
SO2 Absorption in H2O2/ titration 24 3 10
Absortion in H2O/conducdetermined 24 3 10
Flame philometric anlyser 15 25 0.5ppb
Absorption in tetrachloro merairate /SPC 15 3 0.5ppb
Fluresent anlyser 15 2 0.5ppb
Oxides of Conson to nitrite/ 30 13 0.5ppb
Nitrogen Azo dye for
Chan inninescent reaction with 03 30 1s 10ppb
O3 oxalic of KI / spec 30 30s 10ppb
Oxidation of KI / electrolytic cell 30 3s 1ppb
Chemiluminiscent rxn with ethane 30 3s 3pp3
UV alsurption 30 3s 1ppb
Per oxynetyl untrate GLC (ECD 1hr 1ppb
On further consideration when deciding on sampling frequency is that if the
measurement are being made in order to assess whether a given environmental quality
study is being satiated them the data resolution must be sufficient for of that purpose

pH Potentiometry 100s
BoD Dilution / Irenbation 5days
CoD Decimates oxidation 2hrs
Metals AAS -
Oragnimetal GC-ASS -
Nitrate Colometric 5min
Nitrate UV-Spec 1min
Formalize Photometic 6min
Phents GC 30min

Environmental Problem
- Ozone layer depletion
- Global warming
- Green house effect
- Rise in sea level