This Standard provides a method for the preparation of leachates using zero headspace conditions, from liquid and solid wastes, sediments, sludges and soils for assessing the potential of volatile organic contamination of groundwater in a variety of disposal-to-land scenarios.
This Standard deals only with the preparation of the leachate.
This Standard excludes procedures prior to submitting samples to the laboratory for analysis or sub-sampling.
The range of analytes includes any organic compound which is liquid or gaseous at normal temperatures and for which a suitable analytical method exists.
NOTE A list of analyte compounds is given in Appendix A.
The use of zero headspace in this Standard may also be used for cyanide forms that may be susceptible to losses due to volatilisation when using pH <7 leaching fluids (refer to AS 4439.3).
The procedure is not applicable to encapsulated wastes which cannot be reduced to the specified maximum particle size without breaking the integrity of encapsulation.
The pH and the oxidation-reduction (redox) potential, or Eh of a leaching fluid may vary with each disposal environment and is known to affect the leaching of metals and possibly some organic species. No provision is made in this procedure, however, to control pH and Eh during leaching.

Originated as AS 4439.2-1997.
Second edition 2019. Originated as AS 4439.2-1997. Second edition 2019.