1 Scope
This British Standard specifies methods for taking soil samples for the determination of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to minimize the possible loss of VOCs to atmosphere during and after sample collection.
Two principal ways of taking samples for VOC determination are specified:
a) an intact core sealed to prevent loss of VOCs is taken and sent to the laboratory; and
b) a small portion of material taken with a coring device is immediately placed in water or a preservative (e.g. methanol or sodium hydrogen sulfate) in a subsequently sealed vial to be sent to the laboratory.
The methanol immersion method described amplifies the guidance in BS EN ISO 15009, BS EN ISO 16558‑1, BS ISO 18512 and BS EN ISO 22155 about this method and is intended to be followed in preference to the briefer descriptions in these four standards.
NOTE 1 This standard uses the term " soil " to refer to " soil and soil materials" as defined BS EN ISO 11074:2015, 7.4.16 , although the procedures specified might not be applicable to certain coarse soils and rocks (see 4.1.2 , Figure 1 and 6.3 ).
NOTE 2 The methods described can be applied at th...