A review of Non-targeted screening approaches to monitoring groundwater
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Date
2018-05
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Abstract
BAKER, AURORA. A review of non-targeted screening approaches to monitoring groundwater.
(Under the direction of Dr. Elizabeth Nichols and Dr. Melanie Hedgespeth.)
Monitoring groundwater for non-regulated contaminants has proven to be an experimental area
for researchers. Currently, no standard approach has been identified for monitoring groundwater
for non-regulated contaminants. Given the discharged items, such as pharmaceuticals and
other waste products that have entered groundwater by ways of storage tanks of gasoline or
other chemicals, septic systems, uncontrolled hazardous wastes, landfills, atmospheric
contaminants and road salts (TGF, 2017). There has been concern that the non-regulated
contamination would lead to adverse health effects on the human, animal and plant populations.
The purpose of this review is to summarize the current knowledge of non-targeted screening
methods available for analyzing groundwater and to identify relevant data gaps from existing
studies. Many studies have been conducted globally using non-targeted screening approaches.
Several studies were able to reach low detection limits. A limiting factor for many of the studies
was the availability of analytical reference standards for identification of some of the compounds
that were previously undetected. Most of the studies took grab samples and then followed with
solid phase extraction, which limited them to a snapshot of the actual contamination instead of
providing an extended period. The use of non-targeted screening (NTA) for monitoring
groundwater seems to have potential due to the low detections levels reached in the studies.
Current efforts of various research labs gave insight into what non-targeted screening involves
and what actions needed to occur for a standard non-targeted analysis method.
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groundwater monitoring,