Document JrLye8bGJE75ggvERJdn4q0xa

Monsanto r ttftM IN1MI ft IOC V. W. Saeger - T2B t>*H . October 4, 1976 IUMCI . DMIMNCl i TO : %. Wood - B2SD J. P. Mleure > 0u<. Hntivcks V: ?; Saeger Keller T2F T2F T2B TIB At Jim Hleure's request, Orville Hicks and I have reviewed Prof. Armstrong's affadavit. The following paragraphs give our consensus. The results obtained by Prof. Armstrong In his study of the anaerobic degradation of PCBs are not unexpected. The overall conclu sion of Prof. Armstrong that PCB degradation In anaerobic sediment Is negligible Is probably valid, but It would have been much better If the conclusion was based on more precise analytical data at several different PCB levels. At the 50 pg level studied, the precision of the recovery data should have been much better. The rather erratic recovery date shown In Tables 2, 2-A, 2-B, and 2-C for Aroclor 1016, Aroclor 1232, and Aroclor 1254 are possibly due to the use of a I-pi Injection. A reproducible Ipl Injoctlon Is difficult to achieve with a standard type syringe. In Table 4, data for Aroclor 1254 In which 5_nl Injec tions were used show much better reproducibility. In regard to the perchlorlnatlon procedure used for Intermediate sampling points, (Table l), It Is Important to recognize that.the perchlorlnatlon of Interfering components as biphenyl, methyl biphenyl, etc. can lead to high values. In addition to the analytical area, I feel sufficient detail on the sampling and handling of the sediments are not Included In this affi davit. There was also no apparent use of sterile controls gs a check on non-blologlcal losses. , /omc tyl. V. W. Saeger . IO REV to* HONS 029066