NonDetects

Dealing with results below the detection limit can cause problems to say the least.

100% NonDetects

For parameters that are all non-detect in the background (i.e., organic compounds) the UG suggests using the Double Quantification (Section 6.2.2 of the UG).

A confirmed exceedance is registered if any well-constituent pair in the ‘100% non-detect’ group exhibits quantified measurements (i.e., at or above the reporting limit [RL]) in two consecutive sample and resample events.

Two big points here:

  1. The result has to be above the Reporting Limit so “j” flagged data do not count.

  2. This is not a formal statistical test and therefore does not count into the 5% site wide false positive discussed in section 4 of this document.

What about less than 100% NonDetects?

More to come but here is a link for now.

http://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/risk/human/info/guide3.htm