On-Site, In-Situ Characterization of Contaminated Soil and Liquid Hazardous Waste with Field Portable X-Ray Analyzer — a Cost Effective Approach

Within the last few years, new developments occurred in the area of on-site, in-situ characterization of soil contaminated with hazardous metals, using field-hardened, portable x-ray analyzers. Improvements of the analytical performance of commercially available XRF analyzers have been successfully tested by the US Environmental Protection Agency during field trials performed at two Superfund sites under innovative technologies demonstration program. The results of those trials served as a basis for a new SW-846 Method 6200 for field-portable XRF for soil screening [2]. This paper will describe the Field-Hardened, Portable X-Ray Analyzer, Model X-METtm 940, and will summarize the results of the field tests. Additionally, we will report on the instrument’s capability to analyze liquid hazardous waste (LHW) on-site, after minor sample preparation. It will be shown that both soils and LHW can be quantified to below 100 mg/kg levels.