Journal article
Effects of room airflow on accurate determination of PUF-PAS sampling rates in the indoor environment
Environmental science. Processes & impacts, Vol.20(5), pp.757-766
05/23/2018
DOI: 10.1039/c8em00082d
PMCID: PMC5966328
PMID: 29611590
Abstract
Accurate and precise interpretation of concentrations from polyurethane passive samplers (PUF-PAS) is important as more studies show elevated concentrations of PCBs and other semivolatile air toxics in indoor air of schools and homes. If sufficiently reliable, these samplers may be used to identify local sources and human health risks. Here we report indoor air sampling rates (Rs) for polychlorinated biphenyl congeners (PCBs) predicted for a frequently used double-dome and a half-dome PUF-PAS design. Both our experimentally calibrated (1.10 ± 0.23 m3 d-1) and modeled (1.08 ± 0.04 m3 d-1) Rs for the double-dome samplers compare well with literature reports for similar rooms. We determined that variability of wind speeds throughout the room significantly (P < 0.001) effected uptake rates. We examined this effect using computational fluid dynamics modeling and 3-D sonic anemometer measurements and found the airflow dynamics to have a significant but small impact on the precision of calculated airborne concentrations. The PUF-PAS concentration measurements were within 27% and 10% of the active sampling concentration measurements for the double-dome and half-dome designs, respectively. While the half-dome samplers produced more consistent concentration measurements, we find both designs to perform well indoors.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Effects of room airflow on accurate determination of PUF-PAS sampling rates in the indoor environment
- Creators
- Nicholas J Herkert - Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, IIHR-Hydroscience and Engineering, The University of Iowa, 4105 SC, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA. keri-hornbuckle@uiowa.eduKeri C Hornbuckle
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Environmental science. Processes & impacts, Vol.20(5), pp.757-766
- Publisher
- England
- DOI
- 10.1039/c8em00082d
- PMID
- 29611590
- PMCID
- PMC5966328
- ISSN
- 2050-7887
- eISSN
- 2050-7895
- Grant note
- P42 ES013661 / NIEHS NIH HHS P30 ES005605 / NIEHS NIH HHS
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 05/23/2018
- Academic Unit
- Civil and Environmental Engineering; Occupational and Environmental Health; IIHR--Hydroscience and Engineering; Iowa Superfund Research Program
- Record Identifier
- 9983806394502771
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