title: Understanding the rates of nonpolar organic chemical accumulation into passive samplers deployed in the environment: Guidance for passive sampler deployments.
abstract: Polymeric passive samplers have become a common method for estimating freely dissolved concentrations in environmental media. However, this approach has not yet been adopted by investigators conducting remedial investigations of contaminated environmental sites. Successful adoption of this sampling methodology relies on an understanding of how passive samplers accumulate chemical mass as well as developing guidance for the design and deployment of passive samplers. Herein, we outline the development of a simple mathematical relationship of the environmental, polymer, and chemical properties that control the uptake rate. This relationship, called a timescale, is then used to illustrate how each property controls the rate of equilibration in samplers deployed in the water or in the sediment. Guidance is also given on how to use the timescales to select an appropriate polymer, deployment time, and suite of performance reference compounds. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2016;12:486-492. © 2015 SETAC.
authors.affiliation: Ralph M Parsons Laboratory, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Apell
authors.affiliation: Ralph M Parsons Laboratory, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.|MIT/WHOI Joint Program in Chemical Oceanography, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: A Patricia
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Tcaciuc
authors.affiliation: Ralph M Parsons Laboratory, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.|MIT/WHOI Joint Program in Chemical Oceanography, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Philip M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Gschwend
mesh_terms: D004777:Environment; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D009930:Organic Chemicals / Q000032:analysis*; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000032:analysis; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D009930:Organic Chemicals; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls
keywords: Environmental sampling; Hydrophobic organic compounds; Passive sampling; Performance reference compounds