USEPA (Environmental Protection Agency) method study 36 SW-846 methods 8270/3510, GC/MS (gas chromatography/mass spectrometry) method for semivolatile organics: capillary-column technique separatory-funnel liquid-liquid extraction. Final report, September 1986-December 1987

An interlaboratory collaborative study was conducted to determine the precision and bias (recovery) of Office of Solid Waste (OSW) 8270/3510 for the analysis of 59 semivolatile organic compounds in groundwater. OSW Method 8270 is entitled 'GC/MS Method for Semivolatile Organics Capillary Column Technique' and includes instructions for quality control, sample preparation, and analysis of samples by GC/MS. OSW Method 3510 is entitled 'Separatory Funnel Liqui-Liquid Extraction.' The study design was based upon Youden's non-replicate plan for collaborative tests of analytical methods. Each water type was spiked with three Youden sample pairs of the 59 semivolatile compounds and analyzed using Methods 8270/3510. The test waters included reagent water as a 'control' against which other test data were compared and two types of ground water. The resulting data were analyzed using the USEPA computer program entitled, 'Interlaboratory Method Validation Study (IMVS).' The data analyses produced measures of precision and recovery for each compound in each water type and compared the performance of the method between water types.