INTERLABORATORY TESTING OF INDUCTIVELY COUPLED PLASMA EMISSION ANALYSIS OF MINING AND FRACKING INFLUENCED WATERS FOR ASTM STANDARDIZATION

摘要

Water treatment is dependent on comprehensive and accurate elemental characterization for some difficult matrices such as Mining Influenced Water (MIW) and Fracking Influenced Water (FIW). Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) Emission has been shown to work as a characterization tool for elements needed for geochemical modeling for major elements in MIW and for selection of optimum conditions for trace analysis by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICPMS). Standardization of the ICP method was successful in the 1980s for 20 elements, but not for six elements Ba, Ca, Li, K, SiO_2 and Na. The missing elements, plus P, S and Sr, were selected for standardization in the FIW matrix, since a method was needed for baseline characterize FIW in the vicinity of potable water wells. Baseline characterization is needed to judge potential impacts on drinking water in the vicinity of oil and gas exploration, hydraulic fracturing (fracking), operation, closure and post-closure. Synthetic matrix solutions were used to cover the range of published concentrations in FIW, due to difficulty in obtaining actual FIW samples. Results of interlaboratory testing are presented in the paper.