SCCWRP working to adapt passive sampling technology to monitor CECs in sediment

SCCWRP in January launched a two-year effort to adapt commercially available passive sampling devices to measure the freely dissolved concentration (Cfree) of CECs in sediment. Passive sampling devices consist of thin, hollow fibers that absorb trace organics from sediment and are then analyzed by gas chromatography.

About 50 leading scientists endorsed moving toward passive sampling technology at a SCCWRP-hosted CEC workshop in 2011; it also was evaluated during a recent international laboratory round-robin study.

Passive sampling is viewed as key to improving the relevance of the existing method for quantifying sediment contamination – namely, measuring bulk sediment concentration. SCCWRP will work to optimize, validate and apply the devices in a lab this year, then test the effectiveness of the methods in 2017 using sediment samples collected from San Diego Bay.