Sorbent-Impregnated Polyurethane Foam Disk for Passive Air Sampling of Volatile Fluorinated Chemicals

Abstract

A passive air sampler comprising a polyurethane foam (PUF) disk impregnated with XAD-4 powder has been developed. This sorbent-impregnated PUF (SIP) disk builds on previous work using PUF disk passive air samplers that have been effective in spatial air mapping studies of nonpolar hydrophobic chemicals, without the need of electricity or expensive air sampling equipment. In this study, PUF disks and SIP disks are calibrated for sampling volatile polyfluorinated chemicals--specifically, the fluorotelomer alcohols (FTOHs) and perfluoroalkyl sulfonamides (PFASs). Results demonstrate the low sorptive capacity of the PUF disk samplers, particularly for the FTOHs, with PUF disks reaching equilibrium within 1 day, after collecting approximately 0.4 and 1.2 m3 of air for 8:2 FTOH and 10:2 FTOH, respectively. This limits their use for these target compounds when time-weighted, linear-phase sampling is desired. The presence of just 0.4 g of XAD powder in the SIP disks greatly increases the sorptive capacity (by approximately 2 orders of magnitude for the FTOHs) and provides linear-phase sampling for a period of several weeks. PUF-air partition coefficients, KPUF-A, calculated for the FTOHs and PFASs are considerably lower than values predicted using previously established correlations against the octanol-air partition coefficient, KOA, demonstrating the unique partitioning behavior of the polyfluorinated chemicals. Using results from these calibration tests, air concentrations of FTOHs were derived from PUF disk samples that were deployed in 52 homes in Ottawa, Canada, during 2002/2003. These represent the first comprehensive measurements of FTOHs in indoor air in North America. Range and (geometric mean) air concentrations (pg m-3) were 261-28 900 (2070) for 8:2 FTOH and 104-9210 (890) for 10:2 FTOH. These air concentrations are orders of magnitude higher than observed for outdoor air, establishing indoor environments as important for human exposure and also as potential sources to the larger environment.

Evaluation of two passive samplers for the analysis of organophosphate esters in the ambient air

“…The uptake mechanism of passive air sampling has been stated in previous studies [17,22,28]. In brief, during sampling period when air flows through the chamber and chemicals accumulate onto sampling media, passive sampling medium-air partition coefficient (K PSM-A ) and air-side mass-transfer coefficient (k A , cm d…”

“…The constructions of stainless steel chambers were mentioned elsewhere [22,27]. Both eleven PUF and SIP disks were deployed approximately two meters above the roof on top of the laboratory building (40°00′26.94″N, 116°20′15.10″E) in our research center, with a total height of approximately 14 m. The disks were harvested one at a time on every Friday in the sampling period from July 11 to September 26, 2014.…”

“…Polyurethane foam (PUF) disk is particularly used as the passive sampling device because of its excellent performance on various kinds of semi-volatile contaminants over periods of several weeks [21]. Shoeib et al further developed a novel sorbentimpregnated polyurethane foam (SIP) technique, in which XAD adsorbent powder is impregnated onto the macroreticular surface of traditional PUF disk [22]. Compared with PUF, SIP led to higher sorption capacity and longer linear-phase distribution period for more volatile chemicals [17].…”

Perfluorinated Compounds in the Asian Atmosphere

“…We deployed sorbent impregnated polyurethane foam (PUF) disk samplers (SIPs) adapted for PFC sampling from a design tested and regularly used for a range of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). 16,19,20 ' MATERIALS AND METHODS Preparation of SIPs. PUF disks (Tisch Environmental) were pre-extracted in a Soxhlet with acetone (12 h) and petroleum ether (18 h).…”

Trace determination of airborne polyfluorinated iodine alkanes using multisorbent thermal desorption/gas chromatography/high resolution mass spectrometry

“…the Arctic atmosphere [20], USA [21], Asia [22], industrialized and remote areas in Central Europe and less urbanized regions in the Southern Hemisphere [9]. Similar passive air sampler comprising of XAD-4 adsorbent impregnated in PUF disk has also been developed [23]. However, analyte preconcentration process in these solvent-based methods might be inappropriate for sample pretreatment of polyfluorinated iodine alkanes because of their high vapor pressures (estimated to be from 0.07 Torr for 1, 6-diiodooctafluorohexane to 20.4 Torr for perfluorohexyliodide [24]) which results in low recoveries.…”