You are here:
COMPARISON OF SAMPLING METHODS FOR SEMI-VOLATILE ORGANIC CARBON ASSOCIATED WITH PM 2.5
Citation:
Lewtas, J, Y. Pang, D. Booth, S. Reimer, D J. Eatough, AND L. A. Gundel. COMPARISON OF SAMPLING METHODS FOR SEMI-VOLATILE ORGANIC CARBON ASSOCIATED WITH PM 2.5. AEROSOL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 34(1):9-22, (2001).
Impact/Purpose:
The objective of this task is to develop and evaluate personal exposure and biomarker methods for toxic components associated with PM2.5 and SVOC in population exposures. Specific sub-objectives include the following:
1) Identification and quantification of either toxic or tracer organic chemicals associated with PM2.5 and associated SVOC.
2) Measurement of personal airborne exposure of selected toxic/tracer organic species in population based human exposure studies.
3) Development and application of urinary metabolite and other biomarker methods for these toxic/tracer organic species in human exposure studies.
4) Evaluation of multivariant receptor models for apportioning personal exposure using biomarker data.
Description:
This study evaluates the influence of denuder sampling methods and filter collection media on the measurement of semi-volatile organic carbon (SVOC) associated with PM2.5. Two types of collection media, charcoal (activated carbon) and XAD, were used both in diffusion denuders and impregnated back-up filters in two different samplers, the VAPS and the PC-BOSS. The two organic diffusion denuders were XAD-coated glass annular denuders and charcoal-impregnated cellulose fiber filter (CIF) denuders. In addition, recently developed XAD-impregnated quartz filters were compared to CIF filters as back-up filter collection media. The two denuder types resulted in equivalent measurement of particulate organic carbon and particle mass. The major difference observed between the XAD and charcoal BOSS denuders is the higher efficiency of charcoal for collection of more volatile carbon. This more volatile carbon does not contribute substantially to the particle mass or SVOC measured as OC on quartz filters downstream of the denuders. This volatile carbon does result in high OC concentrations observed in charcoal filters placed behind quartz filters downstream of the XAD denuders and would result in overestimating the SVOC in that configuration.
This paper has been reviewed in accordance with the US Environmenal Protection Agency's peer and administrative review policies and approved for publication. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.