Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment (한국대기환경학회지)

Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment (한국대기환경학회)
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Comparison of Measurement Methods for Volatile Organic Compounds in Ambient Air Using Adsorbent Tubes and Canisters

흡착관과 캐니스터를 이용한 대기 중 휘발성유기화합물 측정방법의 비교 평가

  • Baek, Sung-Ok (Department of Environmental Engineering, Yeungnam University) ;
  • Seo, Young-Kyo (National Institute of Environmental Research) ;
  • Heo, Gwi-Seok (Korea Basic Science Institute) ;
  • Jeon, Chan-Gon (Department of Environmental Engineering, Yeungnam University) ;
  • Lee, Min-do (National Institute of Environmental Research) ;
  • Han, Jin-Seok (Department of Environmental and Energy Engineering, An-yang University)
  • 백성옥 (영남대학교 환경공학과) ;
  • 서영교 (국립환경과학원 대기연구부) ;
  • 허귀석 (기초과학지원연구원) ;
  • 전찬곤 (영남대학교 환경공학과) ;
  • 이민도 (국립환경과학원 대기연구부) ;
  • 한진석 (안양대학교 환경에너지공학과)
  • Received : 2016.05.24
  • Accepted : 2016.06.07
  • Published : 2016.06.30
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Abstract

This study was carried out to evaluate the performance of two sampling methods, i.e., adsorbent tubes and canisters, for the measurement of ambient volatile organic compounds (VOCs). A total of 24 target VOCs were selected from a list of 48 priority hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) in Korea. The two sampling methods were investigated with a wide range of performance criteria such as repeatability, linearity, and lower detection limits. In addition, mean relative errors (MRE) and mean duplicate precisions (MDP) were estimated by inter-lab comparison studies for duplicate field samples. Precisions for the two methods appeared to be well comparable with the performance criteria recommended by USEPA TO-15 and TO-17 for canister and adsorbent methods, respectively. Correlations and variations between the VOCs concentrations determined by the two methods were generally good in most cases. However, MREs and MDPs for individual VOCs appeared to be widely ranged, depending on each VOC. This implies that the two methods have its own advantages and disadvantages in determining a variety of VOCs in ambient air, and neither of which has absolute superiority. Finally, 9 of 24 VOCs were found to be difficult to determine by either methods due to their unstability in a canister, and lack of appropriate standard materials. Thus, it is suggested that development of measurement methods for such unstable VOCs is an urgent task from a viewpoint of HAPs management.

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References

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