title: Evaluation of performance reference compounds in polyethylene-based passive air samplers.
abstract: Polyethylene-based passive air samplers (PSDs) were loaded with performance reference compounds (PRCs) and deployed in a wind tunnel to examine the effects of wind speed on sampler performance. PRCs could be loaded reproducibly into PSDs, with coefficients of variation only exceeding 20% for the more volatile compounds. When PSDs were exposed to low (0.5-1.5 m s-1) and high (3.5-4.5 m s-1) wind speeds, PRC loss rate constants generally increased with increasing wind speed and decreased with increasing sampler/air partition coefficients. PSD-based air concentrations calculated using PRC loss rate constants and sampler/air partition coefficients and air concentrations measured using active samplers compared closely. PRCs can be used to account for the effect of differences in wind speeds on sampler performance and measure air concentrations with reasonable accuracy.
authors.affiliation: National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology (ENTOX), University of Queensland, Coopers Plains, Queensland 4108, Australia. m.bartkow@uq.edu.au
authors.forename: Michael E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Bartkow
authors.forename: Kevin C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: Karen E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Kennedy
authors.forename: Neil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Holling
authors.forename: Darryl W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Hawker
authors.forename: Jochen F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Müller
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D007202:Indicators and Reagents; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D010573:Pesticide Residues / Q000032:analysis; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000032:analysis; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis; D020959:Polyethylene; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014919:Wind
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D007202:Indicators and Reagents; D010573:Pesticide Residues; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; D020959:Polyethylene; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls