Quantitative determination of ultra-traces of chlorinated compounds in high-volume air samples from the Arctic using polyurethane foam as collection medium

Airborne organochlorines in the Canadian High Arctic

“…Concentrations of PCC were similar for both expeditions. Oehme and Stray (1982) identified traces of PCC in the Norwegian Arctic, but PCC were not quantified. No other information is available about the presence of PCC in Arctic air, although PCC have been found in ambient air in the continental United States (Billings and Bidleman, 1983;Rice et al, 1986), over the North Atlantic (Bidleman et al, 1981), and in southern Sweden .…”

“…These results are the first indications of the presence of DDT compounds in the Canadian Arctic atmosphere. Others have searched without success for DDT and DDE at Arctic stations further east (Oehme and Stray, 1982;Oehme and Ottar, 1984;Pacyna and Oehme, 1988). Tanabe and Tatsukawa (1980) reported total DDT residues averaging 7.6 pg/m3 over the Bering Sea in 1979.…”

Selective determination of substituted PAH in aerosols using liquid CO2‐extraction, HPLC prefractionation on chemically activated silica, and HRGC combined with negative ion mass spectrometry

“…Aerosols were collected on precleaned glass fiber filters of 142 mm diameter (Gelman type 61635, Ann Arbor, MI, USA) using the same equipment as described earlier [14]. The sample volumes varied between 6 and 400 m3 of air (indoor and outdoor respectively).…”

“…Preliminary results indicate that liquid C02 extraction is also suitable for quantitatively removing volatiles trapped on polyurethane foam [14]. Losses by evaporation are reduced by the closed system and the extract can either be dissolved in a low boiling solvent or injected directly.…”

“…Electron capture detection and NlCl are complementary methods. NlCl is very useful for method development, ultratrace analysis with high selectivity [14], and for confirmation of results obtained by ECD. However, high costs make NlCl less suitable for routine analysis.…”