Evaluation of small prototype passive sampler for airborne VOCs

Conference · Wed Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1997

OSTI ID:617812

Otson, R; Cao, Xu-Liang ^[1]

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1. Health Canada, Ottawa, Ontario (Canada)

A small prototype passive sampler assembled from relatively inexpensive and readily available materials, and containing ca. 7 mg of a carbonaceous sorbent, was improved and evaluated for the determination of airborne volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Automated injection of extract aliquots directly from samplers into a GC after in situ extraction of VOCs is an attractive feature of the method. The performance of the method was compared with that based on the use of the 3M OVM3500 at different concentrations (ca. 0.01 to 30 mg/m{sup 3}) of 26 VOCs in controlled atmospheres for ca. 8 hr sampling periods. Method detection limits obtained with the prototype sampler were ca. 3 to 15 {mu}g/m{sup 3} for most of the VOCs, and higher than those for the 3M OVM3500 method, but better sensitivity can be obtained with longer exposures. For most compounds, concentration values obtained with the prototype sampler were within +/- 30 % of those obtained with the OVM3500 at concentrations below ca. 5 mg/m{sup 3}, but higher than OVM3500 values at levels above ca. 5 mg/m{sup 3}. Generally, VOC extraction recoveries were better than 90%, and exposed prototype samplers could be stored for a week without a significant ({le} 15%) change in VOC concentration values. This new method is useful for monitoring when VOC concentrations > 0.01 mg/m{sup 3} are of interest, and can be used for prolonged monitoring of lower VOC concentrations.

• OSTI ID: 617812
• Report Number(s): CONF-9704195--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

44 INSTRUMENTATION
INCLUDING NUCLEAR AND PARTICLE DETECTORS
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AIR SAMPLERS
CARBON
GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PERFORMANCE
POLLUTANTS
VOLATILE MATTER