1. Scope

1.1 This guide covers information pertaining to a broad spectrum of practices and applications of soil atmosphere sampling, including sample recovery and handling, sample analysis, data interpretation, and data reporting. This guide can increase the awareness of soil gas monitoring practitioners concerning important aspects of the behavior of the soil-water-gas-contaminant system in which this monitoring is performed, as well as inform them of the variety of available techniques of each aspect of the practice. Appropriate applications of soil gas monitoring are identified, as are the purposes of the various applications. Emphasis is placed on soil gas contaminant determinations in certain application examples.

1.2 This guide suggests a variety of approaches useful to successfully monitor vadose zone contaminants with instructions that offer direction to those who generate and use soil gas data.

1.3 This guide does not recommend a standard practice to follow in all cases nor does it recommend definite courses of action. The success of any one soil gas monitoring methodology is strongly dependent upon the environment in which it is applied.

1.4 Concerns of practitioner liability or protection from or release from such liability, or both, are not addressed by this guide.

1.5 This guide is organized into the following sections and subsections that address specific segments of the practice of monitoring soil gas:

1.6 This guide does not purport to set standard levels of acceptable risk. Use of this guide for purposes of risk assessment is wholly the responsibility of the user

1.7 The values stated in either inch-pound or SI units are to be regarded separately as the standard. The values given in parentheses are for information only.

1.8 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety problems, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.

1.9 This guide offers an organized collection of information or a series of options and does not recommend a specific course of action. This document cannot replace education or experience and should be used in conjunction with professional judgment. Not all aspects of this guide may be applicable in all circumstances. This ASTM standard is not intended to represent or replace the standard of care by which the adequacy of a given professional service must be judged, nor should this document be applied without consideration of a project's many unique aspects. The word 'Standard' in the title of this document means only that the document has been approved through the ASTM consensus process.

2. Referenced Documents (purchase separately) The documents listed below are referenced within the subject standard but are not provided as part of the standard.

ASTM Standards

D653 Terminology Relating to Soil, Rock, and Contained Fluids

D1356 Terminology Relating to Sampling and Analysis of Atmospheres

D1357 Practice for Planning the Sampling of the Ambient Atmosphere

D1452 Practice for Soil Exploration and Sampling by Auger Borings

D1605 Practices for Sampling Atmospheres for Analysis of Gases and Vapors

D1914 Practice for Conversion Units and Factors Relating to Sampling and Analysis of Atmospheres

D2652 Terminology Relating to Activated Carbon

D2820

D3249 Practice for General Ambient Air Analyzer Procedures

D3416

D3584

D3614 Guide for Laboratories Engaged in Sampling and Analysis of Atmospheres and Emissions

D3670 Guide for Determination of Precision and Bias of Methods of Committee D22

D3686 Practice for Sampling Atmospheres to Collect Organic Compound Vapors (Activated Charcoal Tube Adsorption Method)

D3687 Practice for Analysis of Organic Compound Vapors Collected by the Activated Charcoal Tube Adsorption Method

D4220 Practices for Preserving and Transporting Soil Samples

D4490 Practice for Measuring the Concentration of Toxic Gases or Vapors Using Detector Tubes

D4597 Practice for Sampling Workplace Atmospheres to Collect Gases or Vapors with Solid Sorbent Diffusive Samplers

D4696 Guide for Pore-Liquid Sampling from the Vadose Zone

D4700 Guide for Soil Sampling from the Vadose Zone

D5088 Practice for Decontamination of Field Equipment Used at Waste Sites

E177 Practice for Use of the Terms Precision and Bias in ASTM Test Methods

E260 Practice for Packed Column Gas Chromatography

E355 Practice for Gas Chromatography Terms and Relationships

E594 Practice for Testing Flame Ionization Detectors Used in Gas or Supercritical Fluid Chromatography

E697 Practice for Use of Electron-Capture Detectors in Gas Chromatography

Keywords

contaminant; environmental monitoring; geochemistry; ground water; Henry's law; petroleum hydrocarbon; sampling; soil gas; unsaturated flow; vadose zone; vapor monitoring; volatile organic compound;

ICS Code

ICS Number Code 91.120.25 (Seismic and vibration protection); 93.020 (Earth works. Excavations. Foundation construction. Underground works)

DOI: 10.1520/D5314-92R01

ASTM International is a member of CrossRef.