Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Screening for PFOS and PFOA in European air using passive samplers
AU - Chaemfa, Chakra
AU - Barber, Jonathan L.
AU - Huber, Sandra
AU - Breivik, Knut
AU - Jones, Kevin C.
PY - 2010/5/27
Y1 - 2010/5/27
N2 - Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) have been widely detected in the environment and in wildlife, including biota in remote areas, such as the Arctic. A monitoring programme to measure these two compounds in the atmosphere simultaneously at many sites using traditional sampling techniques (active air sampler) would be difficult to achieve. This study presents the results of using polyurethane foam-based passive air samplers (PUF-PASs) to sample ionic perfluoroalkyl sulfonates (PFASs) in three different areas: northwest of England (15 sites), UK-Norway transect (11 sites) and European survey (23 sites), for 2-3 months of exposure. Only PFOA and PFOS were regularly detected in the samplers. PFOA (200-27000 pg per sample per day) and PFOS (1.5-720 pg per sample per day) levels present in samplers deployed in northwest of England were estimated in this study. In the UK-Norway transect campaign, only the UK samples were found to contain PFOA (100-1200 pg per sample per day) and PFOS (2.7-7.7 pg per sample per day). It was difficult to see clear distribution trends of PFOA (4.7-540 pg per sample per day) and PFOS (1.9-69 pg per sample per day) in the EU survey. However, PFOA appeared relatively elevated in samples taken close to the coastline of the North Sea. This study gives some encouragement to the idea that PUF-PAS can be used to sample PFASs. From our knowledge, this is the first study using untreated PUF disks to sample ionic PFASs in the atmosphere.
AB - Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) have been widely detected in the environment and in wildlife, including biota in remote areas, such as the Arctic. A monitoring programme to measure these two compounds in the atmosphere simultaneously at many sites using traditional sampling techniques (active air sampler) would be difficult to achieve. This study presents the results of using polyurethane foam-based passive air samplers (PUF-PASs) to sample ionic perfluoroalkyl sulfonates (PFASs) in three different areas: northwest of England (15 sites), UK-Norway transect (11 sites) and European survey (23 sites), for 2-3 months of exposure. Only PFOA and PFOS were regularly detected in the samplers. PFOA (200-27000 pg per sample per day) and PFOS (1.5-720 pg per sample per day) levels present in samplers deployed in northwest of England were estimated in this study. In the UK-Norway transect campaign, only the UK samples were found to contain PFOA (100-1200 pg per sample per day) and PFOS (2.7-7.7 pg per sample per day). It was difficult to see clear distribution trends of PFOA (4.7-540 pg per sample per day) and PFOS (1.9-69 pg per sample per day) in the EU survey. However, PFOA appeared relatively elevated in samples taken close to the coastline of the North Sea. This study gives some encouragement to the idea that PUF-PAS can be used to sample PFASs. From our knowledge, this is the first study using untreated PUF disks to sample ionic PFASs in the atmosphere.
U2 - 10.1039/b921628f
DO - 10.1039/b921628f
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 20461269
AN - SCOPUS:77952569087
VL - 12
SP - 1100
EP - 1109
JO - Journal of Environmental Monitoring
JF - Journal of Environmental Monitoring
SN - 1464-0325
IS - 5
ER -