Evaluation of the use of performance reference compounds in an oasis-HLB absorbent based passive sampler for improving water concentration estimates of polar herbicides in freshwater

Passive samplers such as the Polar Organic Chemical Integrative Sampler (POCIS) are useful tools for monitoring trace levels of polar organic chemicals in aquatic environments. The use of performance reference compounds (PRC) spiked into the POCIS adsorbent for in situ calibration may improve the se...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inEnvironmental science & technology Vol. 44; pp. 1713 - 1719
Main Authors Mazzella, Nicolas, Lissalde, S., Moreira, Sylvia, Delmas, François, Mazellier, Patrick, Huckins, J.N.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published American Chemical Society 2010
Subjects
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

Loading…
More Information
Summary:Passive samplers such as the Polar Organic Chemical Integrative Sampler (POCIS) are useful tools for monitoring trace levels of polar organic chemicals in aquatic environments. The use of performance reference compounds (PRC) spiked into the POCIS adsorbent for in situ calibration may improve the semi-quantitative nature of water concentration estimates based on this type of sampler. In this work, deuterium labeled atrazine-desisopropyl (DIA-d5) was chosen as PRC because of its relatively high fugacity from Oasis HLB (the POCIS adsorbent used) and our earlier evidence of its isotropic exchange. In situ calibration of POCIS spiked with DIA-d5 was performed and the resulting time-weighted average concentration estimates were compared with similar values from an automatic sampler equipped with Oasis HLB cartridges. Before PRC correction, water concentration estimates based on POCIS data sampling rates from a laboratory calibration exposure were systematically lower than the reference concentrations obtained with the automatic sampler. Use of the DIA-d5 PRC data to correct POCIS sampling rates narrowed differences between corresponding values derived from the two methods. Application of PRCs for in situ calibration seems promising for improving POCIS-derived concentration estimates of polar pesticides. However, careful attention must be paid to the minimization of matrix effects when the quantification is performed by HPLC-ESI-MS/MS.
ISSN:0013-936X
1520-5851
DOI:10.1021/es902256m