Assessment of the impact of sampler housing on indoor passive air sampler measurements of SVOCs

Abstract

Passive air sampling (PAS) using a polyurethane foam (PUF) sorbent is a widely used technique to characterize air concentrations of semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) in indoor environments; however, there is little consensus on the type of housing used in sampler housings and how sampler masses are converted to air concentration. We systematically evaluate the three types of PUF-PAS sampler housings most commonly used indoors, and characterize uptake rates for > 50 SVOCs, covering legacy persistent organic pollutants, pesticides, combustion by-products, and flame retardants for all three housing types. There is a clear association between the amount of shielding of the PUF disk and equivalent air volumes for PUF-PAS, with median sampling rates for double-bowl housings of 0.72 m3/day (0.62-0.92 m3/day), 1.3 m3/day (1.0-1.7 m3/day) for single bowl, and 1.8 m3/day (1.4-2.2 m3/day) for PUFs without any housing. Combining these outcomes with a meta-analysis of existing data on PUF-PAS indoor uptake, we provide recommendations for the range of applicability and selection of sampling rates for PUF-PAS in indoor environments.