Solid Waste Analysis

Shimadzu offers the most comprehensive portfolio of instruments for evaluating the composition, physical properties, and chemical contaminants of liquid, semisolid, contaminated soil, and waste. Solid Waste testing at the national level in the United States regulated by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) which specifies toxicity characteristics that if a waste exceeds would classify it as a hazardous waste. The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) provide for the cleanup of hazardous substances at current or abandoned facilities where hazardous substances were used or discarded. Regulations governing solid waste are found at 40 CFR Parts 239 – 282, however, the methods are published in a large compendium entitled Hazardous Waste Test Methods SW-846. Unlike the wastewater or drinking water methods, SW846 methods split the sample preparation, sample cleanup, sample extraction or digestion, and final analysis into separate methods. For example, EPA Method 625.1 is a wastewater method for SVOCs and includes sampling, sample preservation, extraction, and analysis by GCMS. The SW-846 counterpart, Method 8270E, only covers the analysis by GCMS and the sample extraction is described in other SW-846 methods. Additionally, with the exception of Method Define Parameters (MDPs) most methods in SW-846 may be modified according to the Methods Innovation Rule.