Ambient air monitoring programs are initiated to monitor exposure of a community to chemicals released as a result of:

• Nearby industrial processes
• Remediation activities
• Natural or man-made environmental disasters.  

Eurofins Environment Testing can provide sampling and analysis methods suitable for a range ambient air programs. Specific to petroleum refineries, we can provide benzene fenceline measurements using EPA 325 or a list of over 90 accredited VOCs using EPA TO-15. 

Examples of remediation projects include the clean-up of former manufactured gas plant (MGP) sites in which perimeter air monitoring is required to measure chemicals released during soil of excavation and removal. In addition to the conventional TO-15 method used to monitor BTEX, Eurofins Environment Testing can support ambient monitoring using passive sorbent samplers and EPA 325.

Natural or man-made environmental disasters such as forest fires, train derailments or oil spills may require emergency response to assess chemical exposures to nearby communities or clean-up crews. Eurofins Environment Testing can effectively respond to these emergency ambient monitoring situations with a ready supply of sampling media, highly technical staff to quickly identify the most suitable sampling and analytical methods and the capacity to quickly analyze and report unplanned samples, allowing for quick decisions regarding health and potential chemical exposure at the site.

Ambient Air Metals Monitoring

Atmospheric Deposition - Mercury and Trace Metals

Mercury and metals are emitted into the air from both natural and anthropogenic sources. In turn, these metals can be transported long distances and eventually fall out of the atmosphere through dry deposition or washed out of the atmosphere in rainwater (wet deposition). Monitoring mercury and metals in wet deposition is an important way of determining critical inputs of toxics metals into aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Eurofins measures mercury and metals in wet deposition across nearly 120 monitoring stations through 7 day integrated weekly samples. 

Methods supported currently

• Measure Mercury In Wet Deposition - EPA 1631Mod Mercury in Wet/Dry Deposition
• Measure Methyl Hg In Wet Deposition - EPA 1630Mod Methyl Mercury in Wet Deposition
• EPA 1638Mod Trace Metals in Wet Deposition
• EPA I0-5Mod - Sampling and Analysis for Atmospheric Mercury
• NIOSH 6009Mod – Indoor Air Mercury
• EPA I0-3.5Mod - Determination or Metals in Ambient Particulate Matter

Mercury deposition network

Eurofins Environment Testing has been the National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP) - Mercury Deposition Network (MDN), Mercury Analytical Laboratory and Network Operations Center for the NADP MDN since the program began back in 1994. Today The MDN is the largest, standardized, monitoring network in place for measuring Hg in wet deposition in the world.