Abstract

Two types of passive samplers—the semipermeable membrane device (SPMD) and the polar organic chemical integrative sampler (POCIS)—are being used to collect data from the McKenzie River, Oregon. The McKenzie River is the source of drinking water for the City of Eugene, Oregon, and passive-sampler data are part of an ongoing monitoring effort designed to help understand and protect the drinking water source. Data from the passive samplers are reported here. This data report is dynamic and will be appended with additional data as they become available.

Introduction

The McKenzie River is the source of drinking water for approximately 200,000 people in the Eugene area of Oregon (fig. 1). To protect this source, the Eugene Water and Electric Board (EWEB) has implemented a source protection program (Eugene Water and Electric Board, 2000) that includes monitoring water in the McKenzie River basin for the presence of anthropogenic organic compounds.

Among the organic compounds of interest to EWEB are many that may have human-health consequences at concentrations that are orders of magnitude less than the detection limits associated with conventional water-sampling techniques. In addition, many compounds of interest may be present only during episodic events. Two types of passive samplers—the semipermeable membrane device (SPMD) and the polar organic chemical integrative sampler (POCIS)—are being used to address these particular challenges. Both the SPMD (Huckins and others, 2006) and POCIS (Alvarez and others, 2004, 2007) samplers are well suited to overcoming the difficulties of measuring low analyte concentrations and recording episodic analyte loading.

This report presents data obtained from SPMD and POCIS samplers deployed as part of a cooperative study being conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey and EWEB. This report is dynamic, and additional appendixes will be added as new data become available.

Environmental Setting and Data‑Collection Sites

The environmental setting of the McKenzie River basin and a discussion of sampling sites in the basin have been previously reported in McCarthy and others (2009) and Kelly and others (2012).

Sample Collection, Laboratory Methods, and Quality Assurance

The methods used to collect, prepare, and analyze samples and to assure the quality of the data are presented in detail in McCarthy and others (2009). Methods are briefly summarized and details specific to each data set are included as a “methods” worksheet in the data workbooks (see appendixes).

SPMD and POCIS Data

The SPMD and POCIS data are available in the appendixes of this report as Microsoft© Excel 2007 (.xlsx) files at https://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/692/.

References Cited

Alvarez, D.A., 2010, Guidelines for the use of the semipermeable membrane device (SPMD) and the polar organic chemical integrative sampler (POCIS) in environmental monitoring studies: U.S. Geological Survey, Techniques and Methods 1–D4, 28 p. (Also available at https://pubs.usgs.gov/tm/tm1d4/.)

Alvarez, D.A., Cranor, W.L., Perkins, S.D., Clark, R.C., and Smith, S.B., 2008a, Chemical and toxicological assessment of organic contaminants in surface water using passive samplers: Journal of Environmental Quality, v. 37, p. 1024‑1033.

Alvarez, D.A., Cranor, W.L., Perkins, S.D., Schroeder, V.L., Werner, S.L., Furlong, E.T., and Holmes, J., 2008b, Investigation of organic chemicals potentially responsible for mortality and intersex in fish of the North Fork of the Shenandoah River, Virginia, during spring of 2007: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2008-1093, 16 p. (Also available at http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/ofr20081093/.)

Alvarez, D.A., Huckins, J.N., Petty, J.D., Jones-Lepp, F., Stuer-Lauridsen, F., Getting, D.T., Goddard, J.P., and Gravell, A., 2007, Water sampling—Polar organic chemical integrative sampler (POCIS), in Greenwood, R., Mills, G., and Vrana, B., eds., Passive sampling techniques in environmental monitoring, 48: Amsterdam, Elsevier, p. 171–198.

Alvarez, D.A., Petty, J.D., Huckins, J.N., Jones-Lepp, T.L., Getting, D.T., Goddard, J.P., and Manahan, S.E., 2004, Development of a passive, in situ, integrative sampler for hydrophilic organic contaminants in aquatic environments: Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, v. 23, no. 7, p. 1640–1648.

Eugene Water and Electric Board, 2000, Drinking water protection plan: Eugene, Oreg., Eugene Water and Electric Board Technical Report, 23 p., accessed April 20, 2012, at http://www.eweb.org/public/documents/water/WaterProtectionPlan.pdf.

Huckins, J.N., Petty, J.D., and Booij, K., 2006, Monitors of organic chemicals in the environment—semipermeable membrane devices: New York, Springer, 223 p.

Keith, L.H., 1991, Environmental sampling and analysis—A practical guide: Boca Raton, Fla., CRC Press, Inc., p. 101-113.

Kelly, V.J., Anderson, C.W., and Morgenstern, Karl, 2012, Reconnaissance of land-use sources of pesticides in drinking water, McKenzie River, Oregon: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5091, 46 p. (Also available at https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2012/5091/.)

McCarthy, K.A., Alvarez, David, Anderson, C.W., Cranor, W.L., Perkins, S.D., and Schroeder, Vickie, 2009, Evaluation of passive samplers for long-term monitoring of organic compounds in the untreated drinking water supply for the City of Eugene, Oregon, September–October 2007: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2009–5178, 20 p. (Also available at https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2009/5178/.)

Petty, J.D., Orazio, C.E., Huckins, J.N., Gale, R.W., Lebo, J.A., Meadows, J.C., Echols, K.R., and Cranor, W.L., 2000, Considerations involved with the use of semipermeable membrane devices for monitoring environmental contaminants: Journal of Chromatography A, v. 879, p. 83-95.

Revised February 2013

First posted June 13, 2012