title: Polyethylene devices: passive samplers for measuring dissolved hydrophobic organic compounds in aquatic environments.
abstract: We demonstrate the use of polyethylene devices (PEDs) for assessing hydrophobic organic compounds (HOCs) in aquatic environments. Like semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs) and solid-phase microextraction (SPME), PEDs passively accumulate HOCs in proportion to their freely dissolved concentrations. Polyethylene-water partition constants (K(PEW)S) were measured in the laboratory for eight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), five polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and one polychlorinated dibenzop-dioxin (PCDD), and these were found to correlate with octanol-water partition constants (K(OW)s; log K(PEW) = 1.13 log K(OW) - 0.86, R2 = 0.89). Temperature and salinity dependencies of K(PEW) values for the HOCs tested were well predicted with excess enthalpies of solution in water and Setschenow constants, respectively. We also showed that standards, impregnated in the PED before deployment, can be used to correct for incomplete equilibrations. Using PEDs, we measured phenanthrene and pyrene at ng/L concentrations and 2,2',5,5'-tetrachlorobiphenyl at pg/L concentrations in Boston Harbor seawater, consistent with our findings using traditional procedures. PEDs are cheap and robust samplers, competent to accomplish in situ, time-averaged passive sampling with fast equilibration times (approximately days) and simplified laboratory analyses.
authors.affiliation: Ralph M. Parsons Laboratory, MIT 48-413, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA. radams@lmu.edu
authors.forename: Rachel G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Adams
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lohmann
authors.forename: Loretta A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Fernandez
authors.forename: John K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: MacFarlane
authors.forename: Philip M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Gschwend
mesh_terms: D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000295:instrumentation*; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D008404:Massachusetts; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000032:analysis; D000072317:Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000032:analysis; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis; D020959:Polyethylene / Q000737:chemistry; D012623:Seawater / Q000032:analysis; D012965:Sodium Chloride / Q000032:analysis; D012995:Solubility; D013696:Temperature; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D000072317:Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D012965:Sodium Chloride; D020959:Polyethylene; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls