Development and laboratory performance evaluation of a personal multipollutant sampler for simultaneous measurements of particulate and gaseous pollutants

Abstract

A personal multipollutant sampler has been developed. This sampler can be used for measuring exposures to particulate matter and criteria gases. The system uses a single personal sampling pump that operates at a flow rate of 5.2 l/min. The basic unit consists of two impaction-based samplers for PM2.5 and PM10 attached to a single elutriator. Two mini PM2.5 samplers are also attached to the elutriator for organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC), sulfate, and nitrate measurements. For the collection of nitrate and sulfate, the minisampler includes a miniaturized honeycomb glass denuder that is placed upstream of the filter to remove nitric acid and sulfur dioxide and to minimize artifacts. Two passive samplers can also be attached to the elutriator for measurements of gaseous copollutants such as O3, SO2, and NO2. The performance of the multipollutant sampler was examined through a series of laboratory chamber tests. The results showed a good agreement between the multipollutant sampler and the reference methods. The overall sampler performance demonstrates its suitability for personal exposure assessment studies.