He, Jun, et al. Atmospheric Environment, 2010, 44(7), 884-891.
This study evaluated the performance of a polyurethane foam (PUF) disk-based passive air sampler (PAS) for collecting atmospheric semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs), including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs). Data from PAS were compared with active bulk air sampling (AAS).
Analytical Standards
The surrogate standards for PAHs included anthracene-d10, fluoranthene-d10, and benzo[e]pyrene-d12 while OCPs used 13C12-PCB 8 and 13C12-PCB 77 as their standards. PAH internal standards included phenanthrene-d10 and pyrene-d10 along with benzo[a]pyrene-d12 while OCPs used 13C6-tetrachlorobenzene as the internal standard. The depuration experiments incorporated 13C6-HCB together with 13C12-4,4'-DDT and 13C12-PCB 101.
Key Findings
One-way ANOVA revealed no significant differences in chemical profiles between PAS and AAS samples. The air-side mass transfer coefficient (*k*A) for PAS, derived from depuration compound loss (13C6-HCB, 13C12-4,4'-DDT, and 13C12-PCB 101, each spiked at 1000 ng), averaged 0.12 ± 0.04 m s-1. The PUF disk (365 cm2) exhibited an average sampling rate of 3.78 ± 1.83 m3 d-1 over 68 days. Most PAHs and all OCPs showed linear uptake throughout the sampling period, while naphthalene, acenaphthylene, acenaphthene, and fluorene transitioned to a curvilinear phase after 30 days.