Publication: Polyurethane Foam (PUF) Disk Samplers for Measuring Trace Metals in Ambient Air
Issued Date
2019-01-01
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ISSN
23288930
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2-s2.0-85071906242
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Mahidol University
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SCOPUS
Bibliographic Citation
Environmental Science and Technology Letters. (2019)
Suggested Citation
Eftade O. Gaga, Tom Harner, Ewa Dabek-Zlotorzynska, Valbona Celo, Greg Evans, Cheol Heon Jeong, Sabina Halappanavar, Narumol Jariyasopit, Yushan Su Polyurethane Foam (PUF) Disk Samplers for Measuring Trace Metals in Ambient Air. Environmental Science and Technology Letters. (2019). doi:10.1021/acs.estlett.9b00420 Retrieved from: https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/20.500.14594/50942
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Title
Polyurethane Foam (PUF) Disk Samplers for Measuring Trace Metals in Ambient Air
Abstract
© 2019 American Chemical Society. A new method is presented for measuring atmospheric concentrations of trace metals in airborne particulate matter using polyurethane foam (PUF) disk passive air samplers (PUF-PASs) and passive dry deposition air samplers (PAS-DDs), which until now have mainly been used to assess organic pollutants in air. A field calibration study was conducted at one of the sites where measurements of trace metals were available using conventional methods. Uptake profiles of PUF-PASs and PAS-DDs were linear over the full 56 days that the samplers were deployed. The results confirm the ability of both passive sampler types to provide time-integrated measurements of airborne trace metals. For the PUF-PAS, the derived sampling rates (R) were generally in the range of default values derived for organic pollutants (i.e., 4 ± 2 m3/day). For the PAS-DD, the collection of the larger depositing particles resulted in elevated effective sampling rates, which were up to ∼4 times higher than for the PUF-PAS. Sampling rates for the PAS-DD were more variable compared to those for the PUF-PAS, probably due to the variability of the association of various trace metals with larger particles. Results from the PAS-DD were also converted to effective dry deposition fluxes and were as high as 6700 μg m-2 day-1 for iron. This study provides a proof concept and methodology for the application of PUF disk-based samplers as a versatile and cost-effective tool for studying trace metals, in addition to organics, in ambient air. The method was used to assess concentrations of 25 trace metals in ambient using PUF-PASs deployed across six urban sites in the greater Toronto area, impacted by different emission sources to air. The highest trace metal concentrations were measured at sites impacted by traffic.