Pollutant analysis using passive samplers: principles, sorbents, calibration and applications. A review

Abstract

Passive techniques are a constantly evolving method of monitoring water pollution, allowing the simultaneous sampling and concentration of selected chemical compounds. The most popular aqueous passive samplers are those in which sorbents are used as receiving phases, including: the Polar Organic Chemical Integrative Sampler (POCIS). Originally, POCIS contained the copolymer poly(divinylbenzene)-coN -vinylpyrrolidone, which allowed the collection of analytes with 0 ≤ log K ow ≤ 5, The limitation of the use of conventional samplers for sampling water pollutants only with a specific polarity has resulted in the fact that innovative sorbents are used more and more in POCIS-like samplers. In recent years, application of several innovative sorbents in POCIS-like samplers, for example: mixed-mode ion exchange polymeric sorbents, ionic liquids, molecularly imprinted polymers and carbon nanotubes has been described. This is the first review in which the usability of classical and innovative sorbents used in passive techniques principles has been collected and compared, and it has been shown that the type of sorbent can significantly affect the efficiency of sampling pollutants in the aquatic environment. The major points are the following: 1) principle of operation, of passive samplers, 2) characteristics of POCIS and sorbents used as receiving phases, 3) sampler calibration methods and environmental factors affecting their operation, 4) a detailed description of the application possibilities of conventional and innovative sorbents used in POCIS-like samplers. This review shows the growing number of works on the use of innovative sorption materials to overcome limitation of originally designed POCIS, and the published results, allow us to conclude that the type of sorbent may be a key factor in increasing the applicability of POCIS-like samplers.

Water Analysis: Emerging Contaminants and Current Issues

“…The use of passive samplers has been increasing over the past 2 decades. Polar organic chemical integrative samplers (POCIS) are used to extract hydrophilic organic contaminants from environmental waters as described by Godlewska et al 140 The authors reviewed the different sorbents used in POCIS, as well as exposure duration and sampling media. POCIS provides many advantages including the ability to detect ultratrace pollutants, ease of long-term sampling, easy determination of time-weighted average analyte concentrations, and simplicity of use.…”

Recent Advances in the Synthesis of Complex Macromolecular Architectures Based on Poly(N-vinyl pyrrolidone) and the RAFT Polymerization Technique

“…The versatile properties of PNVP have led to applications in a variety of fields: Pharmaceutical and biomedical: binder, coating and stabilizer for tablets, solubilizer for suspensions, disinfectant solutions (PNVP-Iodine), dispersion of crystallizing drugs, hydrogels/nanogels, nanocarriers for drug/gene/protein/peptide delivery, tissue engineering (scaffolds), wound/burn dressings, dental restoration, wettability of contact lenses, and antifouling agents [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12].…”

Passive Sampling of Organic Contaminants as a Novel Approach to Monitor Seawater Quality in Aquarium Ocean Tanks

“…Among passive sampling devices, the Polar Organic Chemical Integrative Sampler (POCIS) was designed to sample polar compounds [5]. However, POCIS was applied to the sampling of chemicals characterized by a logK ow comprised between 0 and 5 [6]. It consists in a sorbent phase sandwiched between two microporous membranes, usually made of polyethersulfone (PES), which are kept together by two stainless rings.…”

“…Nevertheless, the detection of some lipophilic substances using these samplers is reported [9,10]. The introduction and testing of new sorption materials and membranes in passive techniques are aimed at increasing the range of chemicals that can be sampled [6].…”