Accumulative sampling of trace pesticides and other organics in surface water using xad‐4 resin

Abstract

XAD‐4 resin accumulative sampling was tested as a means of on‐site extraction of surface waters. Recoveries for most organochlorine, organophosphorus, organonitrogen, chlorophenol, and chlorophenoxy acid pesticides and related pollutants were acceptable (>50%) when spiked at the 10 and 0.1 ppb levels. Detection limits of 1–100 ppt were attainable for most compounds in river water, although lower levels required the use of an HPLC cleanup/fractionation step prior to those GC determinations using electron‐capture detection. XAD‐4 accumulative sampling was competitive with solvent extraction of grab samples in terms of recoveries, and offered advantages in volume of water sampled, detection limits, and sample handling. The wide range of solute applicability combined with the ease of constructing and operating the accumulative sampler recommends it over grab sampling for many types of monitoring applications.