ppb
Parts per billion
Ppb is an abbreviation for parts per billion, a unit measuring extremely small concentrations—typically of contaminants in air, water, or soil.
One ppb means one unit of a substance in a billion units of the medium: Lead levels in the water exceeded 15 ppb.
Compare ppm (parts per million), which measures larger concentrations.
Minute remnant or pursue
- nanogramBillionth of a gram
- microgramMillionth of a gram
- dilutionReduction in concentration
- thresholdPoint of beginning
baseline · background · calibration · standard · reference · spike · recovery
Unwelcome substances in something pure
- residuesWhat's left after processing
- emissionsSubstances released into air
- effluentsDischarged liquid waste
- dischargeRelease of substance outward
runoff · leachate · particulates · arsenic · lead · mercury · cadmium · pesticides
Act of finding something
- sensitivityResponsiveness to stimuli
- ultrasensitiveExtremely responsive to stimuli
- chromatographyTechnique separating mixtures by differential migration
- spectroscopyStudy of light-matter interaction
biosensor · instrumentation · signal-to-noise · reproducibility · validation
Federal environmental regulator
- WHOUN health authority
- FDAU.S. health regulator
- guidelineRecommended standard for action
- standardLevel of quality accepted
compliance · permissible · allowable · tolerance · exceedance · violation · monitoring · reporting
trace
Minute remnant or pursue
threshold · baseline · background · calibration · standard · reference · spike · recovery
contaminants
Unwelcome substances in something pure
- residuesWhat's left after processing
- emissionsSubstances released into air
- effluentsDischarged liquid waste
discharge · runoff · leachate · particulates · arsenic · lead · mercury · cadmium · pesticides · herbicides
detection
Act of finding something
- sensitivityResponsiveness to stimuli
- ultrasensitiveExtremely responsive to stimuli
- chromatographyTechnique separating mixtures by differential migration
spectroscopy · biosensor · instrumentation · signal-to-noise · reproducibility · validation
EPA
Federal environmental regulator
standard · compliance · permissible · allowable · tolerance · exceedance · violation · monitoring · reporting · enforcement
- trace analysisppt, analyte, quantification, sensitivity, enrichment
- abbreviationsMr, Mrs, Ms, Dr, Jr
- unitsunit, angstrom, yard, meter, base units
- ratiosratio, proportion, fraction, percent, percentage
- solutionssolution, answer, fix, remedy, cure
- Calibrationcalibration, recalibration, zeroing, accuracy check, color calibration
ppbwhole
Full and undivided
100% · one hundred percent · percent · concentrated · percentage
Imprecise preliminary calculation
approximate · macroscopic · ballpark figure · order of magnitude · ballpark