Speciation of Environmental Particulate
RJLG has significant expertise in analytical speciation techniques including, for example, differentiating arsenic derived from an industrial source from that derived from the application of a herbicide product; differentiating lead derived from a battery reprocessing plant from that derived from coal ash; determining the proportion of total cadmium in soil related to a specific mineral source; and differentiating among various sources of carbon-rich particles.  

Environmental particulate in air, soil, sediment or indoor and outdoor dust can be of forensic interest when permissible limits are exceeded, when the particulate presents a nuisance problem, when clean-up costs need to be allocated or when remediation strategies need to be employed.  Issues to be addressed may include identification and quantification of the particulate of interest, source identification, potential for adverse effects and development of remediation strategies.  These issues are best addressed using particle-by-particle analytical speciation techniques where a unique species is defined by the combination of chemical composition, particle size, shape and association.  Analytical speciation techniques for particles include the acquisition of species-specific characteristics using scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectrometry (SEM/EDS) where the EDS provides elemental composition information and the SEM image allows description of the physical measures.  The SEM/EDS analysis may be supplemented with other appropriate techniques including, for example, optical microscopy, bulk chemistry, and X-ray diffraction.

RJLG has significant expertise in analytical speciation techniques including, for example, differentiating arsenic derived from an industrial source from that derived from the application of a herbicide product; differentiating lead derived from a battery reprocessing plant from that derived from coal ash; determining the proportion of total cadmium in soil related to a specific mineral source; and differentiating among various sources of carbon-rich particles.   For more information or if you would like a consultation regarding analytical speciation techniques, contact Dr. Stephen Kennedy, Senior Scientist at skennedy@rjlg.com.  

  Join Dr. Stephen Kennedy for a free Environmental Forensics Web Seminar Presentation on "Particle Speciation in Soil, Sediment and Dust", on Thursday, October 29, 2009 @ 1:00 PM EST. Dr. Kennedy will describe analytical methods for particle speciation and the value they bring to your environmental project. He will also review different characterization methods, most specifically the MSEM and CCSEM.  Please contact Kristy Anderson at kanderson@rjlg.com to sign up.

Publications:
Kennedy, S.K., W. Walker, B. Forslund, "Speciation and Characterization of Heavy Metal-Contaminated Soils using Computer-Controlled Scanning Electron Microscopy," Environmental Forensics, Vol. 3, pp. 131-143, 2002.

Kennedy, S.K., G.S. Casuccio, R.J. Lee, G. Slifka, M.V. Ruby, "Microbeam Analysis of Heavy Element Phases in Polished Sections of Particulate Material - An Improved Insight into Origin and Bioavailability," in J.H. Morgan (ed.), Sampling Environmental Media, ASTM STP 1282, American Society for Testing and Materials, Philadelphia, PA, 1996.

Johann P. Engelbrecht;  Eric V. McDonald;  John A. Gillies;  R. K. M. Jayanty;  Gary Casuccio; Alan W. Gertler, Characterizing Mineral Dusts and Other Aerosols from the Middle East-Part 1: Ambient Sampling, Inhalation Toxicology: International Forum for Respiratory Research, 1091-7691, Volume 21, Issue 4, 2009, Pages 297 - 326.

Johann P. Engelbrecht;  Eric V. McDonald;  John A. Gillies;  R.K.M. "Jay" Jayanty;  Gary Casuccio; Alan W. Gertler, Characterizing Mineral Dusts and Other Aerosols from the Middle East-Part 2: Grab Samples and Re-Suspensions, Inhalation Toxicology: International Forum for Respiratory Research, 1091-7691, Volume 21, Issue 4, 2009, Pages 327 - 336.