What is the impact of analysing from plastic instead of glass?

Modified on: Tue, 5 Mar, 2019 at 12:23 PM


As a general rule of thumb, organic analysis samples are to be collected in glass containers and inorganic analysis samples to be collected in plastic containers. 


There are exceptions to this rule, such as PFAS analysis samples collected in HDPE containers and Mercury or Cyanide analysis samples collected in glass containers. 


Large molecular weight organic compounds tend to sorb very well to plastic, so the use of such containers to collect samples for organic analyses may potentially lead to a biased low result.


In some instances a designated soil bag plastic ziplock bag is acceptable for some inorganic analysis such as metals as well as moisture.  


Please use caution when packing ziplock bags as they can be less sturdy than a glass jar container.


Also confirm with your regions guidance on sampling protocols for container requirements as it may vary by region and analysis.  For example the BC MOE SALM method for metals analysis requires a clean polyethylene or glass container tightly capped immediately after sampling as the accepted sampling technique.




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