Packaging Procedures Clause Samples

Packaging Procedures. All samples will be placed in a sturdy, insulated cooler with ice, ice-equivalent or dry-ice. When ice is used, the drain plug of the cooler will be secured with fiberglass tape to prevent melting ice from leaking out of the cooler. Ice used to cool samples will be double-sealed in two Ziploc plastic bags and placed on top and around the samples to chill them to at least 4 °C. The bottom of the cooler will be covered with bubble wrap to prevent breakage during shipment. The screw caps will be checked for tightness and, if not full, a mark will be made noting the sample volume level of liquid samples on the outside of their sample bottles with indelible ink. The bottle/container tops and sample labels will be secured with clear tape. All sample containers will be placed in heavy-duty plastic bags and wrapped in bubble wrap to prevent breakage. All samples will be placed in coolers with the appropriate chain-of-custody form. All forms will be enclosed in a large plastic bag and affixed to the underside of the cooler lid. Empty space in the cooler will be filled with bubble wrap or Styrofoam peanuts to prevent movement and breakage during shipment. Each ice chest will be securely shut. The laboratories will be notified of the sample shipment schedule. The schedule will be arranged so that the samples will arrive on a work day, and not during the weekend. Water samples collected for total mercury and methylmercury will be sent to Eurofins Frontier Global Sciences in Bothell, Washington. Samples collected for total suspended solids will be sent to Enthalpy Laboratory in Berkeley, California. For biota samples collected during the sampling, the analytical laboratory Eurofins Frontier Global Sciences will be used. All samples that will be analyzed for mercury will be sent to Eurofins Frontier Global Sciences in Bothell, Washington. As stated above, all fish collected for mercury analysis will be kept cold at <4 °C until all specimens have been collected.