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Remediation activities require reliable analytical data when removal and treatment operations are being performed. Traditionally, quality information was only available from established laboratories at off-site locations. Although the assay results were accurate and precise, turnaround time was not prompt. The delay of these results has resulted in the site work not being as efficient or effective as could be. Recently, great strides have been made in field analytical equipment, which has been designed to provide data of similar quality as permanent laboratories. To examine this point, samples were collected at a site undergoing remediation for analysis both on site and at a permanent laboratory. The data generated from a field transportable gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer ( GC MS ) was compared to that produced by a GC MS stationed in a fixed laboratory. The field transportable GC MS was established on site and analyzed air samples collected on charcoal adsorbent tubes. Additional collocated air samples were collected for analysis by a GC MS located in a permanent laboratory.

SARA Title III legislation requires facilities to report the quantities of regulated chemicals that are used on site in an effort to determine the chemicals' fate. One pathway by which a chemical may leave a facility is through volatilization into the atmosphere. These chemical emissions pollute the environment and may be a potential health problem. The TAGA® 6000E was used to investigate a specific site for chemical losses due to volatilization by analyzing the ambient air on and off the facility's property.

Remote optical sensing (ROS) is an emerging analytical technique. ROS provides the capability to remotely monitor and measure trace atmospheric gases by transmitting a beam of radiation across a parcel of air several hundred meters in length (e.g., open-path Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy). The information gained from these measurements can be used to calculate emission rates from sources, which can be modeled to determine downwind air quality impacts. Traditionally, two monitoring methods were available to estimate air quality impacts: receptor measurements and source measurements. Receptor measurements are air monitoring or sampling methods that directly determine concentrations at downwind locations of concern (e.g., absorbent tubes collected at a school). Source measurements are air monitoring or sampling at or immediately downwind of a source to determine an emission rate (e.g., stack sampling at a facility). This emission rate is then used for estimating concentrations at downwind locations of concern. The path-integrated approach has been utilized at Superfund sites to examine source emission impacts during full-scale remediation operations and during pilot-scale studies. The emission rates for the various compounds were modeled to determine if health-based action levels for the targeted compounds were exceeded at designated distances downwind of the monitoring. Utilization of ROS during these types of operations provided near real-time data to demonstrate compliance with short-term exposure action limits. The data were also used to determine the overall daily average fence line concentration and compare it with longer-term, exposure-based action limits.