Behaviour of solid adsorbents for the sampling of atmospheric organochlorine compounds

The behaviour of Tenax(R) GC, Polyurethane foam (density 0.022 g/cm(3)), Amberlite(R) XAD-2 and Amberlite(R) XAD-4 alone or in combination has been studied. Standard atmospheres containing different concentration levels of hexachlorocyclohexane and chlorobenzene isomers were generated and trapped in adsorbent cartridges. The generation of the atmosphere, the adsorption by the cartridges, the extraction of the compounds, the evaporation of the final solution and the analysis of GC/ECD have been studied. The most efficient system for trapping the test gases is the use of two cartridges connected in series, one containing Polyurethane foam and the second one containing Tenax GC. Recovery values ranging from 72% for 1,3-dichlorobenzene to 98% for gamma-hexachlorocyclohexane are obtained, most of them >90%. The SD values for all the compounds under study are around 4% for a total sampled amount of 0.5 mug of each compound.