Soil

Asbestos Identification in Soil Samples

Presence/Absence in Soil

This method is IANZ accredited under “Bulk Identification”.

Analysis of a 100 mL soil sample to determine if asbestos is present or absent in the sample. Typical turnaround time is 1 working day from sample receipt at the laboratory*.If asbestos is detected as being present, the quantity of asbestos can be determined using the BRANZ semi-quantitative method.

Semi-Quantitative Analysis (BRANZ Guideline)

This method follows the BRANZ (the Building Research Association of New Zealand) documentation. BRANZ lead the development of the New Zealand Guidelines for Assessing and Managing Asbestos in Soil (2017).

This method requires a 500 mL soil sample which is separated into 3 fractions by particle size: >10 mm, 2-10 mm, and <2 mm. Each fraction is weighed, and the asbestos fibres or materials in each fraction are then identified, extracted, and weighed so that the asbestos present in each fraction can be expressed as a weight of  asbestos relative to the overall weight of sample.

Sample Collection (soil):

Due to the non-homogenous nature of asbestos, soil samples must be analysed as received by the laboratory. Therefore, compositing of samples, and sub-sampling is not recommended. A separate asbestos sample must be submitted if chemistry analysis is also required. Analytica can provide suitable containers for all methodologies upon request.