Issue 5, 2015

Passive sampling for volatile organic compounds in indoor air-controlled laboratory comparison of four sampler types

Abstract

This article describes laboratory testing of four passive diffusive samplers for assessing indoor air concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including SKC Ultra II, Radiello®, Waterloo Membrane Sampler (WMS) and Automated Thermal Desorption (ATD) tubes with two different sorbents (Tenax TA and Carbopack B). The testing included 10 VOCs (including chlorinated ethenes, ethanes, and methanes, aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons), spanning a range of properties and including some compounds expected to pose challenges (naphthalene, methyl ethyl ketone). Tests were conducted at different temperatures (17 to 30 °C), relative humidities (30 to 90% RH), face velocities (0.014 to 0.41 m s−1), concentrations (1 to 100 parts per billion by volume [ppbv]) and sampling durations (1 to 7 days). The results show that all of the passive samplers provided data that met the success criteria (relative percent difference [RPD] ≤ 45% of active sample concentrations and coefficient of variation [COV] ≤ 30%) in the majority of cases, but some compounds were problematic for some samplers. The passive sampler uptake rates depend to varying degrees on the sampler, sorbent, target compounds and environmental conditions, so field calibration is advantageous for the highest levels of data quality.

Graphical abstract: Passive sampling for volatile organic compounds in indoor air-controlled laboratory comparison of four sampler types

Associated articles

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
18 Oct 2014
Accepted
23 Mar 2015
First published
24 Mar 2015

Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2015,17, 896-905

Author version available

Passive sampling for volatile organic compounds in indoor air-controlled laboratory comparison of four sampler types

T. McAlary, H. Groenevelt, S. Disher, J. Arnold, S. Seethapathy, P. Sacco, D. Crump, B. Schumacher, H. Hayes, P. Johnson and T. Górecki, Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2015, 17, 896 DOI: 10.1039/C4EM00560K

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements