UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY REGION I

80 WESTVIEW SllUET, Ll!lUNGTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02113

MEMORANDUM

DATE• November 30, 1988

SUBJa Administration Building Indoor Air Stud,y Work Plan Lowell Iron and Steel Co~any/Silreaia SiteLowell, MA

PROM• Peter R. ltahn, Bnvironaental Bngineer /ftl(BSA-LBX

T01 Lealie McVickar, RPM Silreaia Site BBC-c:AN3

Pleaae find enclosed the proposed WOrk Plan deaoribing tbe indoor air atud,y to be conducted in the adainiatration building at the Lowell Iron and st..l to.pany in Lowell, Maaaachuaetta on Daceabar 6, 1988. If you have any queationa,pleaae feel fr.. to contact .. at (617)860-t392.

cc• Don Porteoua, 188-LIX Nora Beloin, ISA-LIX Carol WOod, ~-tu Margaret McDonough, APT-2311

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INDOOR AIR TOXICS STUDY WORI PLAN

ADMINISTRATION BUILDING

LOWELL IRON and STEEL COMPANY

LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS

NOVEMBER 1988

o.s. .... ntal rot ctlon Aoeacr. ion I,

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 1 1.1 Description•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 1

' 1.2 Objective •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 1

2.0 Sampling MethodologY••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 1 2.1 Description•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 1

2.2 Saapling Location•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 2

2.3 Quality Assurance/Quality Control•••••••••••••••••••••• 2 2.3.1 Pump Calibration••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 2 2.3.2 Sample Storage and Transport ••••••••••••••••••••• 2 2.3.3 ReproducibilitY•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 3 2.3.4 Chain of CustodY••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 3

2.4 Indoor Meteorological Condition•••••••••••••••••••••••• 3

3.0 Analytical Methodology••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 3

3.1 Inatru.entation•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 3

3.2 Standard Preparation for Quantitation•••••••••••••••••• 3

3.3 Analytical Method•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 3.3.1 Tekaar Deeorber Operating Conditione••••••••••••• • 3.3.2 GC Operating Condition••••••••••••••••••••••••••• ••3.3.3 MS Operating Conditione•••••••••••••••••••••••••• •

3.4 Quality Control•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 5. 3.4.1 cartridge Conditioning••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 5

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FIGURES and TABLES

Figures a

Fig~re 1 - Administration Basement Floor Plan

Tables a

Table 1 - Co~ounds of Interest

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Description

A second 8-hour air sampling study will be conducted on December 6, 1988, in the basement of the administration building at the Lowell Iron and Steel Company, located at SO Tanner Street in Lowell, Massachusetts. Resampling of this basement is necessary, because the initial study conducted on October 5, 1988 provided results not of acceptable quality to adequately represent eight hour averageconcentrations. EPA and the company are concerned that volatile organic compounds present in the groundwater plume underlying the basement, are volatilizing and infiltrating into the basements air apace, resulting in adverse health effects to workers. The ground­water data summary presented on Table 6-3 of the March 1987 Silresim Remedial Investigation Report, Volume II(prepared for the ~ilresim Site Trust br their contractor, GZA), was used to select the indicator co~ounds for this atudy. All the volatile organic compounda that appear on Table 6-3 will be targeted, except for the followings2-Butanone, C-Hethyl-2-petanone, 2-Bexanone, Styrene, Tetrahydrofuran,Di..thyl Sulfide, Dimethylformamide, Chloromethane. Air aa.plingand analytical methodologies will be designed to identify and quantitate the indicator compounds listed on Table 1. EPA Environ­..ntal Services Division peraonnel will be performing both the field s-.pling activities and analytical work.

1.2 Objective

The purpoae of thia atudy is to collect sufficient quality data during a noraal 8-hour working day to demonatrate the i.pact organicco.pounda, volatillaing fro. the groundwater pluae underlying Lovell Iron and Steel'• ad iniatration building, will have on the baae..nts air quality. The data will be co.piled into a final report and iaaued to IPA'a Waate Manage..nt Division as input for aaaessingriak to vorkera periodically utilising the baae..nt. The followingIPA aa~ling and analytical ethoda will be used for thia atudya Method TOl - Method for the Deteraination of Volatile OrganicCoi!pOUnda in Aabient Air Uaing Tenax Adaorption and Gaa CbrOII&to­graphy/Maaa 8pectr try (GC/MS) and Method T02 - Method for the Deteralnation of Volatile Organic Co ounda in Aabient Air br Carbon Molecular sieve Maorption and GC/MS, theae •thode wre taken f tbe C~ndl of Methode for the Deteraination of Toxic Organic ~und~ :ftl:"l llr, lfl-6bo/4-84-o41, Ray 1987. Saat o wlll prow ower Ualta of detection of leaa than 1 ug~. .

tant-flow alr • ltao 1 on oondltloned 1. 5 or of

12 1 OD x lOOaa atainleaa ate 1

~(I)OH::J:r H::O Zf11 H(l) (I)H ~:I ::0 ~0 ~:::1: Hf11 <:I f11H

0 ::0~ f11r 0 00 ::00 0::0

1J

-2­

tubes and on conditioned 0.4 grams Spherocarb adsorbant, packed in 6.35mm OD x 177.8mm stainless steel tubes which are inserted into stainless steel sampling cartridges. Certain nonpolar volatile organic compounds having boiling points in the range of approxi­mately 80 to 200 degrees Fahrenheit are captured on Tenax GC (poly2,6-Diphenyl phenylene oxide), including several of the constituents of interest here. Other more volatile compounds having boilingpoints ranging from -15 to +120 degrees Fahrenheit .are collected on a carbon molecular sieve adsorbent, in this case, Spherocarb.

2.2 Sampling Location

One sampling location will be established in the sump pit. The pitis approxiaately 4 feet in length, 2.5 feet in width, and 1.5 feet deep. It is located 9 feet from east wall and 4 feet froa north wall. This location was chosen as an area which has the greatestpotential, to emit the highest levels of volatile organica. There- ;·.; fore, the possibility of breakthrough of constitue~ts through the cartridges, with loss of accuracy, is greatest at this location. Bach Tenax and Spherocarb primary cartridge will have a aecondary (backup) cartridge connected in aeries, for calculating breakthrough. . Additionally, a replicate Tenax and Spherocarb sample will be collected

.· iD parallel, at a different flow rate, to determine reproducibility.The inlet of each sampling tube will be poationed approxiaately 2 feet above the sump pit's base.

The baseaents floor plan is shown on Figure 1, the base..nt di..ns­ions are 60 feet x 40 feet x 8 feet. The sa.pling location is also depicted on this figure.

2.3 Quality Assurance/Quality Control

2.3.1 Puap Calibration

·All DuPont personal constant flow air sapling puaps will be cali ­brated to their respective flow rates with a ·d~· cartridge in place using a 500 al bubble tube. Flow rates will be checked prior to and after the sa.pling event. The flow rates will be averagedand corrected to standard at.oaphedc conditions. ~f ~e ~fference bet en tbe initial and final flow rates is .ore tban 15,, the s le abould be aarked suspect.

2.3.2 le torage and Transport

a and Bpherocarb a4aorbant t.raps will be stonc1- iD their ' ldual atorage containers during transport .ad atory

a tor • I .a addiuoo. the trapa will lao be placM ...t~~a•EJ•u•bg rooal t.o al.alalH oTOA 001at Uo.a.

tala ~lbtl ty of o~a-cont tton. •

-3­

• All Tenax and Spherocarb adsorbent traps will be transported to and from the field in an ice-filled cooler.

• One clean Tenax and Spherocarb cartridge will accompanying the samples to the field and back to the laboratory, without beingused for sampling, to serve as a trip blank. The average amount of ~aterial found on the trip blank can be subtracted from the amount on the actual samples. However, if the trip blank level is greater than 2St of the sample amount, data for that co~nent must be identified as suspect. A laboratory blank will be keptin the laboratory freezer and subjected to the s... criteria as the field blank.

2.3.3 Reproducibility

One set of parallel saaples, two samples collected si.ultanaously at different flow rates will be collected. Agreement between parallel samples should generally be within ! 2St, if not, sa.plasshould be aarked suspect.

2.3.4 Chain of Custody

Chain of custody docuaentation will be coapleted by the field engineer. Saaples will only be handled by the field engineer and the chemist parforaing the analysis.

2.4 Indoor Meteorological Conditions

Taaparatura, bara.etric pressure, and relative huaidity will be ..asured periodically throughout the eight-hour sa.pling period.

3.0 Analytical ftathodoloqy

3.1 Instr ntation

• HP 5970 ftass Salactiva Detector • BP 5890 Gas Cbro tograph equipped with a 60 tar ~L capill ­

ary col n • BP 1000 COIIIPutar using the and Aquarius software • • Tekaar 000 1 Da orbar

- ·l.2 Standard OU titat on

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3.3 Analytical rtethod

The sample is desorbed from the sampling cartridge held at 2so•·c for 0 minutes and condensed on a cryogenic trap maintained at -1oo•c by liquid nitrogen. This is then deaorbed to the VOCOL column held at 10•c. Identification is baaed on the unknown's mass spectra and retention times. Quantification is accomplished using an external multipoint calibration for the compounds of interest. Other compounds will be tentatively identified based on the computer'slibrary search.

3.3.1 Tekmar Desorber Operating Conditions

Line Beatera Valve Beatera Injector Heatera Ready a Purge 1a Cryogenic la Purge 2a Desorb a Desorb TiMa Cryogenic 2 cool 2a Cryogenic 1 Trans.r Trans. Tiaer Cryogenic 2 InjectaInjecta Bake a Tiaea Purge rlowa Desorb Flowr Desorb Pressurea

Tenax

26o•c 2&o•c 21o•c 4o•c 5 min. -1oo•c 0 min. 23o•c 8 min. 35•c 250°C 3 ain. 4o•c 0.05 min. 24o•c 5 ain. 20 al/ain.20 al/ain.30 psi

3.3.2 GC Operating Conditions

Initial hiiP· a Initial Tiaea aatea

• aater P1ul

Tenax

o•c 2 ain. 8 •ctain. 1oo•c 16 ain.11o•c

••l Operating Conditions

nax

S to 400 cSalto l S n.

Spherocarb

26o•c 26o•c 21o•c 4o•c 10 min.t250.1/ain-uo•c 0 min.38o•c 10 min. 35•c 25o•c 3 ain. 4o•c 0.05 ain. 39o•c 4 ain. 250 al/ain. 25 al/ain.30 psi

lpherocarb

-2o•c 2 ain. I •ctain.oo•c

JO •ln. 1o•c

lpberocarb

-5­

3.4 Ouality Control

3.4.1 Cartridge Conditioning

Cartridges will be thermally conditioned in a Tekmar Hodel 5100 Thermal Conditioner one to two days prior to sampling with a nitrogen purge rate of approximately 100 ml/min. Tenax cartridges will be conditioned for 14 hours at 25o•c. Spherocarb cartridges will be conditioned for 15 hours at 399•c.

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TABLE 1 - COMPOUNDS OF INTEREST

' Compounda Detecteda

1,1,1-Trichloroethane1,1,2,2-TetrachloroethaneCarbon Tetrachloride Bensene 1,2-DichloroethaneTrichloroethylene·1,2-Dlchloropropane Bro.odichloro..thane 2-Chloroethylvinyl ether Toluene trana-1,3-Dichloropropene1,1,2-Trichloroethane TetrachloroethyleneDibro.ochloroaethane Chlorobensene lthylbenseneBroaofora Xylenea

Spherocarb

Co~ounda Detecteda

Vinyl Chloride Cbloroethane Tr1chlorof1uoroaetbane 1,1-Dich1oroetby1eneMethylene Chloride traaa-1,2-Dlcb1oroethylene1,1-Dlcbloroethane Ol1orofoaa cet

Carbon Dlaulf1de