title: Photodegradation of PAHs in passive water samplers.
abstract: Losses of deuterated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) used as performance reference compounds (PRCs) in semipermeable membrane devices deployed at fifteen coastal sampling sites near Harstad harbour in Northern Norway were used to investigate photodegradation of these photosensitive compounds. Unusual PRC dissipation profiles, especially for samplers exposed <5m below the water surface are indicative of photodegradation. A strong correlation between loss rates for d12-chrysene and d12-benzo[e]pyrene with consistently higher losses of the latter was found. The observed photodegradation rates may be sufficiently high to impact PAH masses absorbed by a factor of two. This study demonstrates that photodegradation during exposure of passive water samplers needs to be taken into account, particularly with deployments close to the water surface, when using SPMD canisters, or when sampling in the Arctic.
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA), Gaustadalleen 21, NO-0349 Oslo, Norway. Electronic address: ian.allan@niva.no.
authors.forename: Ian J
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Allan
authors.affiliation: Akvaplan-NIVA, Fram Centre, P.O. Box 6606, Langnes, 9296 Tromsø, Norway.
authors.forename: Guttorm
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Christensen
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA), Gaustadalleen 21, NO-0349 Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Kine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bæk
authors.affiliation: Akvaplan-NIVA, Fram Centre, P.O. Box 6606, Langnes, 9296 Tromsø, Norway.
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Evenset
mesh_terms: D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000295:instrumentation*; D009664:Norway; D010782:Photolysis; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Arctic; Passive sampler; Performance reference compound; Photodegradation; Semipermeable membrane device