Passive air sampling of flame retardants and plasticizers in Canadian homes using PDMS, XAD-coated PDMS and PUF samplers.

Passive air samplers (PAS) were evaluated for measuring indoor concentrations of phthalates, novel brominated flame retardants (N-BFRs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and organophosphate esters (OPEs). Sampling rates were obtained from a 50-day calibration study for two newly introduced PAS, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) or silicone rubber PAS (one with and one without a coating of styrene divinyl benzene co-polymer, XAD) and the commonly used polyurethane foam (PUF) PAS. Average sampling rates normalized to PAS surface area were 1.5 ±â€¯1.1 m3 day-1 dm-2 for both unsheltered PDMS and XAD-PDMS, and 0.90 m3 ±â€¯0.6 day-1dm-2 for partially sheltered PUF. These values were derived based on the compound-specific sampling rates measured here and in the literature for the PAS tested, to reasonably account for site-specific variability of sampling rates. PDMS and PUF were co-deployed for three weeks in 51 homes located in Ottawa and Toronto, Canada. Duplicate PUF and PDMS samplers gave concentrations within 10% of each other. PDMS and PUF-derived air concentrations were not statistically different for gas-phase compounds. PUF had a higher detection of particle-phase compounds such as some OPEs. Phthalate and OPE air concentrations were ∼100 times higher than those of N-BFRs and PBDEs. Concentrations were not systematically related to PM10, temperature or relative humidity. We conclude that both PAS provide replicable estimates of indoor concentrations of these targeted semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) over a three-week deployment period. However, PUF is advantageous for collecting a wider range of compounds including those in the particle phase.

Characterization of polyurethane foam (PUF) and sorbent impregnated PUF (SIP) disk passive air samplers for measuring organophosphate flame retardants.

This study aimed to characterize the uptake of organophosphate esters (OPEs) by polyurethane foam (PUF) and sorbent-impregnated polyurethane foam (SIP) disk passive air samplers (PAS). Atmospheric OPE concentrations were monitored with high-volume active air samplers (HV-AAS) that were co-deployed with passive air samplers. Samples were analyzed for tris(2-chloroisopropyl) phosphate (TCIPP), tri(phenyl) phosphate (TPhP), tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP), and tris(2,3-dichloropropyl) phosphate (TDCIPP). The mean concentration of ∑OPEs in air was 2650 pg/m3 for the HV-AAS. Sampling rates and the passive sampler medium (PSM)-air partition coefficient (KPSM-Air) were calculated for individual OPEs. The average calculated sampling rates (R) for the four OPEs were 3.6 ± 1.2 and 4.2 ± 2.0 m3/day for the PUF and SIP disks, respectively, and within the range of the recommended default value of 4 ± 2 m3/day. Since most of the OPEs remained in the linear uptake phase during the study, COSMO-RS solvation theory and an oligomer-based model were used to estimate KPUF-Air for the OPEs. The estimated values of log KPUF-Air were 7.45 (TCIPP), 9.35 (TPhP), 8.44 (TCEP), and 9.67 (TDCIPP). Finally, four configurations of the PUF and SIP disks were tested by adjusting the distance of the gap opening between the upper and lower domes of the sampler housing: i.e. 2 cm, 1 cm, no gap and 1 cm overlap. The sampling rate did not differ significantly between these four configurations (p < 0.05).