Performance assessment of a passive sampler in industrial atmospheres

In this work we investigate the performances of a passive sampler (GABIE badge) in industrial atmospheres, in accordance with the general specifications of the EN 838 standard. The field experiment was carried out in a paint-manufacturing factory producing a large number of pollutants at the workplaces. A comparison was performed between the results obtained by passive sampling and the conventional tube/pump method (reference method) on nine solvents usually encountered in the different workshops: n-butanol, isobutanol, toluene, ethylbenzene, m-xylene, methylisobutylketone, methylethylketone (MEK), ethyl acetate, butyl acetate. Results were compared by use of the distribution of the relative difference between badge "passive sampling" and tube "active sampling" results (with the latter considered as the reference method). In general, results revealed good agreement between passive and active sampling (except in the case of MEK) and confirmed the accuracy of sampling rates determined for the GABIE sampler. Bias was generally low and variability could be considered to be satisfactory (generally < 20% with a maximum of 30% for ethylbenzene). For MEK, strong bias was noted together with probable underestimation of the tube results. Additional results lead us to suggest that this phenomenon could be due to poor desorption of the SKC tubes by carbon disulphide (CS2); (quantitative recovery for MEK is in fact possible using other desorption solvents).