A Comparative Study of the Performance of Passive Samplers

Abstract

Atmospheric concentrations of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (o-xylene and m,p-xylene) were assessed in the Tricity area (Gdań sk-Sopot-Gdynia, Poland) with the use of two types of passive samplers: permeation (homemade passive samplers) and diffusive (Radiello and Orsa 5). Samples were collected during 2008 at selected sites in the Tricity area at monitoring stations belonging to the agency of Regional Air Quality Monitoring Foundation. The field study was conducted to compare the performance of these two different types of passive samplers. A statistical approach was formulated, and the experimental data were evaluated using the paired t test, Wilcoxon signed rank-sum test, and Friedman analysis of variance. All the statistical results confirm the hypothesis that the differences between the performances of the three sampling devices are highly significant. Despite the fact that data obtained with the homemade passive sampler indicated that the results were higher compared with those for the Radiello and Orsa 5 diffusive samplers, the authors note that all differences between the homemade permeation sampler and the Radiello and Orsa 5 diffusive samplers are positive. INTRODUCTIONThe elevated levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the air over many conurbations have spawned numerous attempts on various scales to clean up the air. Air quality management systems have been set up to supply information on concentration levels of selected atmospheric pollutants. Levels of analytes detected in samples collected at particular places and times are increasingly being used in models for predicting the spread of pollutants and in compiling distribution maps of pollutant levels. For the persons responsible for environment quality control, the biggest problem is choosing the proper field sampling technique, which should have the following features: detection of an appropriate concentration range of target analytes, known accuracy and precision of measurements, clearly defined influence of interferents on measurement results, simplicity and rapidity of measurement, and low running costs.Passive sampling is currently one of main areas of development in analysis, particularly in the monitoring of environmental pollutants. The main advantage of passive sample collection/enrichment technology is that in situ sample collection is very simple, which is particularly important in the case of long-term measurements and is also the reason that passive sampling appears to be an interesting alternative to the routinely used dynamic methods. Passive air sampling can provide atmospheric concentrations of pollutants over a period of months and simultaneously at a number of sites at low cost. With this method, pollutant concentrations are integrated over the whole exposure time, making them immune to accidental, extreme variations. Passive sampling can be used to investigate the atmospheric concentration of organic pollutants not only at the local scale 1,2 but also at the continental and global scales. 3 Inform...

Comparison of VOC Emissions Produced by Different Types of Adhesives Based on Test Chambers

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“…Detailed information about preparing chemical standards of BTEX compounds can be found elsewhere [15,44,45].…”

Measurement of benzene concentration in urban air using passive sampling

“…Further information on the calibration procedure can be found elsewhere [18] Quality control/quality assurance Quality assurance and quality control procedures included the analysis of field blanks and parallel duplicate samples. For field blanks, additional passive samplers were taken to nine monitoring stations and left unexposed during the exposure period (14 days).…”