Field evaluation of polyurethane foam passive air samplers to assess airborne PAHs in occupational environments

There is a need for simple air sampling techniques to enable routine monitoring of the occupational exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in compliance with occupational exposure limits. Other gas-phase contaminants can be monitored in workplaces using passive samplers but this is currently not the case for PAHs. Here, polyurethane foam (PUF) disk passive air samplers (PAS), routinely used for outdoor air monitoring of PAHs and POPs, were assessed for their suitability in an indoor occupational environment against: ability to accumulate detectable levels within 1-2 weeks; quantitative sampling of benzo(a)pyrene (BaP), precision, uptake kinetics, influence of shelter design, and performance of 16 deuterated PAHs as depuration compounds (DCs). Sampling rates (R-values) for PAHs in PUF-PAS, estimated by comparison to low-volume active samplers, and the loss of DCs, varied for individual PAHs (1-10 m(3) day(-1)) but were found to be in the same order of magnitude for both gas-phase and particle-associated PAHs including BaP. Only one PAH (Acy) fulfilled the DC criteria of >40% loss during the 2 week exposure. These results suggest that PUF-PAS are potentially useful tools for PAHs in occupational environments in screening workplaces and identifying sources/hotspots - although unlikely to replace active sampling.