Comparison of Polyurethane Foam and XAD-2 Resin as Collection Media for Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Air

摘要

The objective of the project was to evaluate the collection and retention efficiency for polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) adsorbed or spiked on polyurethane (PUF) and XAD-2 cartridges, and to compare the effect of sampling temperature on retention efficiency for PAH spiked on PUF and XAD-2 resin cartridges. It appeared that XAD-2 resin has better collection efficiency for volatile 2-ring PAH than does the PUF. In addition, some spiked volatile and reactive PAH were well retained on XAD-2 resin, whereas only a small portion of these compounds is retained on PUF after exposure to ambient air at a 6.7 cfm flow rate for 24 hours. The retention efficiency for volatile PAH can be improved by lowering sampling temperature. However, the retention efficiency for reactive PAH such as cyclopenta(c,d) pyrene cannot be improved at lower sampling temperature. The losses of cyclopenta(c,d)pyrene are not through volatilization but are due to the reactivity of the compound.