Field monitoring of volatile organic compounds using passive air samplers in an industrial city in Japan

• Published in: Environmental pollution (1987) Vol. 153; no. 3; pp. 649 - 657
• Main Authors: Kume, Kazunari, Ohura, Takeshi, Amagai, Takashi, Fusaya, Masahiro
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.06.2008; Elsevier
• Subjects: Acetaldehyde - analysis; Air Pollutants - analysis; Analysis methods; Applied sciences; Atmospheric pollution; Benzene - analysis; Cities; Emission source; Environmental Monitoring - instrumentation; Environmental Monitoring - methods; Exact sciences and technology; Formaldehyde - analysis; Industry; Japan; Organic Chemicals - analysis; Passive air sampler; Pollution; Seasons; Spatial distribution; Tetrachloroethylene - analysis; Toluene - analysis; Vehicle Emissions; VOCs; Volatilization; Asia; Honshu; Japan; VOCs; Emission source; Spatial distribution; Passive air sampler; Volatile organic compound; Urban area; Passive detection; Surveillance; Seasonal variation; Sampler; Air pollution; Industrial area; Sampling; Organic compounds; Concentration distribution
• ISSN: 0269-7491; 1873-6424
• DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2007.09.023

Highly portable, sensitive, and selective passive air samplers were used to investigate ambient volatile organic compound (VOC) levels at multiple sampling sites in an industrial city, Fuji, Japan. We determined the spatial distributions of 27 species of VOCs in three campaigns: Mar (cold season), May (warm season), and Nov (mild season) of 2004. In all campaigns, toluene (geometric mean concentration, 14.0 μg/m 3) was the most abundant VOC, followed by acetaldehyde (4.76 μg/m 3), and formaldehyde (2.58 μg/m 3). The spatial distributions for certain VOCs showed characteristic patterns: high concentrations of benzene and formaldehyde were typically found along major roads, whereas high concentrations of toluene and tetrachloroethylene (PCE) were usually found near factories. The spatial distribution of PCE observed was extremely consistent with the diffusion pattern calculated from Pollutant Release and Transfer Register data and meteorological data, indicated that passive air samplers are useful for determining the sources and distributions of ambient VOCs. Passive air samplings with hood are useful for determining the identities, sources, and distributions of ambient VOC pollutants.