Testing & Laboratory
Environmental Analysis
With its subgroups, experiments and associated standards.
Request a QuoteScope
Subgroups within Environmental Analysis
Each group lands in its own section on the same page; The full list of experiments is there.
Sample Types
Parametreler
Environmental Analysis — What Does This Testing Field Cover?
The section below describes how the field of Environmental Analysis works. The conditions, sample requirements and acceptance criteria of the individual tests in this field are given on the relevant test pages.
Environmental analysis determines the presence and concentration of pollutants in water, soil, waste, air and flue gas samples. The output of this family is usually part of a permit, a declaration or an inspection file; the result has direct legal consequences.
In this family SAMPLING is half the result, and this is the feature that most sets the field apart. A sample taken at the wrong time, in the wrong container, under the wrong preservation or from the wrong point gives an invalid result no matter how well it is analysed in the laboratory. In waste water a grab sample and a composite sample give different information; in soil, surface and depth produce different results. Sampling therefore has its own standards and its own accreditation scope.
On the water side, physico-chemical parameters (pH, conductivity, turbidity, COD, BOD, suspended solids), ions, heavy metals, organic pollutants and microbiological parameters are measured. Drinking water and waste water carry different parameter sets and different limits; the same laboratory method leads to a different decision under the two regimes.
In soil and waste, heavy metals, hydrocarbons, PAH and PCB compounds and LEACHING BEHAVIOUR are determined. The leaching test carries a logic peculiar to this field: it is not the total amount of a pollutant in soil but the fraction that can pass into water that determines the environmental risk. Waste classification and the disposal decision rest largely on this test.
On the emissions side, dust, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, oxygen, moisture and total organic carbon are monitored in flue gas. Measurement is made on site under operating conditions and must represent the plant's actual operating regime; a measurement taken at low load does not show the emissions at full capacity.
Continuous measurement systems are a separate body of work. In large plants emissions are monitored continuously and the accuracy of these systems is verified periodically by comparison with independent measurements; the quality assurance framework governs this.
Noise and vibration measurements complete the environmental impact side of the field: environmental noise mapping, workplace noise exposure and vibration exposure measurements produce evidence for both environmental and occupational health legislation.
Method groups in this field
Sampling
Separate sampling standards for water, waste water, soil, waste, flue gas and ambient air; grab, composite and continuous sampling techniques.
Water physico-chemical
pH, conductivity, turbidity, colour, suspended solids, COD, BOD, TOC, alkalinity, nitrogen and phosphorus species.
Elemental analysis
Determination of heavy metals and trace elements in water, soil and waste by ICP-OES and ICP-MS.
Organic pollutants
Volatile organic compounds, PAH, PCB and organochlorine pesticides by GC-MS; hydrocarbon oil index.
Flue gas
Measurement of dust, SO2, NOx, CO, O2, moisture and total gaseous organic carbon; quality assurance of automated measuring systems.
Leaching and waste characterisation
Leaching tests and waste classification parameters; the basis for the disposal decision.
Commonly confused in this field
- An analytical result cannot be used on its own without the sampling record; the time, point, conditions and chain of custody are part of the report.
- Total content and leachable amount give different information; in waste classification, leaching behaviour is what counts.
- Emission measurement must be made under representative operating conditions of the plant; a result taken at partial load is misleading.
- Drinking water and waste water limits are defined in different legislation; the same parameter carries a different threshold under the two regimes.
- A sample from a single point does not represent the whole area; assessment of a contaminated site requires a grid-based sampling plan.
Which decisions these results support
- Compliance with environmental permits and discharge limits
- Quality assurance of continuous emission measurement systems
- Contaminated site assessment and the remediation decision
- Waste classification and selection of the disposal method
- Workplace exposure measurements and occupational health obligations
Sectors
In which sectors is Environmental Analysis used?
Environmental Analysis quote
Tell us your product and the applicable standard; we'll share the timeline and sample requirements in writing.