Soil Duplicates Each soil sample (500 to 900 g) was placed in a |-gal can. It was then dried for 48 h at 75°C, weighed, and redried for an additional 24 h and then reweighed. weight was noted, it was considered dry. If constant If not, it was returned to the oven for an additional 24 h. Once dry, eight I-in. stee! grinding balls were placed in the can with soil, the cover securely sealed, and the samples ball milled continuously for 48 h. After ball milling, the necessary number of aliquots was canned, labeled, and forwarded for analysis. Soil duplicates represented the largest fraction of duplicates prepared. Vegetation Duplicates Vegetation duplicates were almost exclusively prepared from composite coconut meat samples. All vegetation was maintained frozen at LLNL until processed. To ensure against contamination, fruits and roots were washed very carefully before dissection. Once the samples were dissected into their various segments(i.e., meat, skin, and seeds), the segments were placed in plastic containers and weighed. Following weighing, the samples were freeze-dried and reweighed. The dry vegetation material was then ground to a homogeneous texture in Waring blenders, appropriate aliquots were taken and pressed into aluminum tuna or bean cans until a uniform density was achieved, the cans labeled as required, and then forwarded for analysis. Terrestrial Animal Duplicates Terrestrial animal duplicates were prepared from various parts of a pig; the hindquarter being used the most. Processing procedures were the same for the animal samples as for the vegetation with one exception: formaldehyde was pipetted into the can after the sample was pressed. After sealing, the Cans were appropriately labeled and forwarded for analysis. Marine Organism Duplicates Marine organism duplicates were prepared from various tissues and organs of fish and clams. After dissecting, tissues and organs of a species from the same catch were pooled. Wet weights were determined and then the samples were dried to constant weight in ovens at 90°C. Following drying, the samples were dry ashed in muffle furnaces at ll