Field evaluation of a tailor-made new passive sampler for the determination of NO2 levels in ambient air

Abstract

This study describes the field evaluation of a tailor-made new glass passive sampler developed for the determination of NO(2), based on the collection on triethanolemine (TEA)-coated fibre filter paper. The sampler has been derived from a Palmes design. The overall uncertainty of the sampler was determined by using Griess-Saltzman ASTM D 1607 standard test method as a reference method. The agreement between the results of the passive sampler and the reference method was +/-7.90% with the correlation coefficient of 0.90. Method precision in terms of coefficient of variance (CV) for three simultaneously applied passive samplers was 8.80%. The uptake rate of NO(2) was found to be 2.49 ml/min in a very good agreement with the value calculated from theory (2.63 ml/min). Sampler detection limit was 1.99 microg/m(3) for an exposure period of 1 week and the sampler can be stored safely for a period of up to 6 weeks before exposure. A comparison of the sampler performance was conducted against a commercially available diffusion tube (Gradko diffusion tube). The results from the applied statistical paired t test indicated that there was no significant difference between the performances of two passive samplers (R (2) > 0.90). Also, another statistical comparison was carried out between the dark and transparent glass passive samplers. The results from the dark-colour sampler were higher than that from the transparent sampler (approximately 25%) during the summer season because of the possible photodegradation of NO(2)-TEA complex.

Validation and field application of tailor-made nitrogen dioxide passive samplers

“…50 lL of 20 % TEA (Ozden and Dogeroglu 2007;Varshney and Singh 2003) was added to each filter type which was contained in a polypropylene (PP) diffusion tube (5.3 cm long and 1.3 cm i.d.). A sampling set consisted of five sampling tubes and three blanks (unopened tube).…”

“…Behavior of the TEA absorbents and chemical interferences of NO 2 measurements were studied in the UK (Kirby et al 2000). A new passive sampler for NO 2 monitoring was developed by Ozden and Dogeroglu (2007). Passive samplers for atmospheric pollutants such as SO 2 , NO 2 , O 3 and H 2 S in tropical areas were developed and validated by Campos et al (2010).…”

“…They used an acrylic tube (7.1 cm length and internal diameter 1.1 cm i.d) in a range of between 1 and 4 weeks for the exposure period. Ozden and Dogeroglu (2007) developed a new passive sampler compared with the commercial one (Gradko International). They found good agreement and a strong correlation between the results of the two (r [ 0.95).…”

“…Preparation of the Saltzman reagent may be varied; for instance, the ratio of sulfanilamide to NEDA can be 20:1 (Kirby et al 2000;Royset 1998) or 10:1 (Ahmad et al 2011). The colorimetric method is based on the Saltzman reagent with spectrophotometry as the most common method for determining NO 2 (Ahmad et al 2011;Campos et al 2010;Ozden and Dogeroglu 2007). However, chemiluminescence (Ayers et al 1998) and ion chromatograph (Glasius et al 1999;Salem et al 2009) have also been reported as having potential to determine NO 2 in ambient air.…”

Biases in the Measurement of Ambient Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) by Palmes Passive Diffusion Tube: A Review of Current Understanding

“…Ozden and Dogeroglu [49] describe a field evaluation in Eskisehir, Turkey, of a tailor-made glass passive sampler for NO 2 . This is not a Palmes-type PDT but is similar in concept, and the authors also deployed standard Gradko PDTs.…”