RP3 Design, Sampling, Measurement and Design
Thursday, 17 November 2005: 8:00 AM - 6:30 PM in Exhibit Hall

(ALV-1117-051193) Protective deployment systems for sampling of airborne organic contaminants.

Alvarez, D¹, Cranor, W¹, Huckins, J¹, Cicenaite, A², Orazio, C¹, ¹ USGS - CERC, Columbia, MO, USA² Umea University, Umea, Sweden

ABSTRACT- Collecting a representative sample of airborne organic contaminants poses many challenges. One issue commonly overlooked is the potential photodegradation of chemicals after they are trapped by the sampling device. These chemicals can include polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). Semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs) have been used as airborne samplers of nonpolar organic contaminants for many years. The SPMDs are useful in that they provide a means of collecting a sample which can provide information on the time-weighted average concentration of targeted chemicals. A suite of deployment systems have been developed to protect SPMDs from potential chemical loss due to photodegradation during airborne exposure. Analysis of perdeuterated PAHs added to the SPMDs prior to use indicate that no photodegradation of PAHs occurred in SPMDs deployed in the new systems over a 28 day period. In comparison, SPMDs not fully protected from sunlight had no PAHs remaining after 28 days. Furthermore, the new system minimizes holding, exposure to light, and time required for deployment and retrieval of samplers. Considerations on the design and effects on sampling performance will be discussed.

Key words: SPMD, photodegradation, air sampling, PAHs