PARENT SESSION
WA4 - Passive Samplers for POPs
Chair: Harner, Tom1, 1 Environment Canada, Downsview, ON
Co-chair: Jones, Kevin2, 2 Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YQ
8:00 AM to 12:00 PM - Wednesday, 20 November 2002
Room Ballroom F
(517) Passive sampling device based on solid sorbents for combined chemical and toxicological analysis.
Bopp, Stephanie*,1, Schirmer, Kristin1, 1 UFZ Center for Environmental Research Leipzig-Halle, Leipzig, Germany
ABSTRACT- A variety of passive samplers using liquid or solid receiving sorbents is currently applied to the monitoring of aquatic pollutants. Most devices are used for chemical analysis only, focusing on known or presumed contaminants. In contrast, biological indicators, such as cultured cells, can indicate the presence of potentially toxic substances in an environmental sample as a whole. In an attempt to combine passive sampling with biological analysis, solvent extracts of only one device, the semipermeable membrane device, have so far been used in toxicity tests. It is our goal to develop a passive sampling device that can be used for both chemical and biological analysis without solvent extraction, using a solid receiving sorbent. A prerequisite for achieving this goal is to find a sorbent material that 1) can be thermodesorbed for chemical analysis and 2) allows biological indicator cells to adhere to the surface of the sorbent for direct exposure to the sorbed chemicals. Several sorbents, including Tenax TA, Tenax GR, Chromosorb 106, and Amberlite IRA-743 were investigated concerning their compatibility with bioassays using cultured fish cells. Cells attached to the tested sorbents except for Amberlite IRA-743. The attachment of cells to Tenax TA particles was even better than to Biosilon beads, which are made of polystyrene specially designed for cell culturing. For the materials enabling cell adherence, various concentrations of sorbed contaminants elicited dose-response relationships in the adhering cells, thereby demonstrating the bioavailability of the sorbed contaminants. However, one problem encountered for Tenax and Chromosorb 106 was the difficulty in wetting them, prompting further tests using melamine resins.
Key words: passive sampling, toxicological monitoring, combined toxicological and chemical analysis, water