• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• /
• v.6 no.1
• /
• pp.97-108
• /
• 1996

A new type of passive samplers were designed and produced by authors. After evaluating the quality of activated carbon by measuring recovery rate of organic vapors and steadiness of sampling rate, activated carbon with 30 - 35 mesh produced by Company S in Korea was selected. In each passive sampler, an amount of 400 mg of the activated carbon was filled in 25-mm cassette and covered by fixed screen (or wire screen with 100 mesh). In addition to the fixed screen, a wind screen (or wire screen with 300 mesh) was also attached at outer face. The sampling rate of the new Korean passive samplers was estimated Conclusions obtained in the study are as follows. 1. Sampling rates of the newly developed Korean passive samplers were affected by sampling time. For n-hexane, sampling rates of 15- and 60-minute samples were 70.92 and 37.45 ml/min, respectively. Sampling rate of both 200- and 450-minute samples was 25.96 ml/min. It is concluded that, when passive samplers are used for measuring organic vapors, samples be collected longer than 60 minutes. 2. Sampling rate of the passive samplers was also affected by airborne concentration of organic vapors. Lower sampling rates were determined at level of 1/2 threshold limit values (TLVs) recommended by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH). It is recommended that sampling rate of the passive samplers be obtained at site by measuring concentrations using both the NIOSH Method and passive samplers simultaneously. 3. When the passive samplers, which collected organic vapors, were exposed to clean air for five hours, there was no significant loss of organic vapors due to reverse diffusion. 4. When samples were stored at room temperature ($21.8{\pm}0.7^{\circ}C$) and refrigerator ($3.8{\pm}0.7^{\circ}C$), there was no significant difference in the accuracy of results. For trichloroethylene and n-hexane, accuracies were within 25 % at both temperatures until seven days. However, poor accuracy exceeding 25 % was indicated in toluene from the first day. It is recommended that samples be stored at freezing temperature below $0^{\circ}C$. 5. Sampling efficiency was significantly affected by direction of the passive samplers. Results of samplers facing wind and down, respectively, were compared. Lower amount of organic vapors were collected when the sampler was oriented down. It is recommended that, when air velocity is low in plants, the passive samplers be oriented to the wind. However, when air velocity is high, the passive samplers be oriented down.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• /
• v.6 no.1
• /
• pp.109-124
• /
• 1996

This study was performed to evaluate the performance of three passive samplers made in U.S.A. Three passive samplers selected for this study included products made by 3M, Gilian, and SKC in U.S.A. Three organic solvents, such as toluene, trichloroethylene, and n-hexane which are used frequently in Korean industry were selected for the study. Conclusions obtained from this study are summarized as follows. 1. For toluene and trichloroethylene, the overall accuracy of the results from all of three products was within 25 %, which is the criteria recommended by the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). For n-hexane, the overall accuracy of the results from two products except 3M was exceeding 25 %. Thus 3M product showed the best accuracy among three products. 2. When passive samplers collected organic vapors were exposed to clean air for two hours, there were 12 - 16 % loss of organic vapors due to reverse diffusion in Gilian products. There was no significant loss in results from other two products. 3. Air velocity affected greatly on the performance of passive samplers which did not have permeation membrane. At high velocity, 100 cm/sec, accuracies of results from Gilian and SKC were 57 - 108 and 128 - 164 %, respectively. However, the results from 3M samplers, which contain permeation membrane, indicated accuracy below 25 %. 4. When passive samplers collected organic vapors for eight hours, the accuracy was reduced. Thus, it is recommended that passive samplers be used for less than four hours.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• /
• v.8 no.1
• /
• pp.124-132
• /
• 1998

The Korean-made passive samplers were evaluated at the working environment for field testing. Tested materials were n-hexane, toluene and trichloroethylene. The performance of passive samplers depended on types and concentrations of organic vapors. Sampling rates were not steady until certain concentrations. The optimum concentration for determination of airborne toluene by passive samplers was equal to or over 10 ppm which is 1/10 of the Korean occupational exposure limit. Optimum concentration of n-hexane was equal to and over 1 ppm which is 1/50 of Korean occupational exposure limit. But for trichloroehtylene, coefficient of variation was 53.5 %. Passive samplers may be used for determination of n-hexane. For other materials, further study on the performance of Korean-made passive samplers is required.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
• /
• v.20 no.4
• /
• pp.483-491
• /
• 2004

The purpose of this study is to develop an ozone passive sampler and to evaluate its performance p-Acetamidophenol using as the reagent for ozone reacts specifically with the ambient ozone to produce a fluorescence material (p-acetamidopheonl dimer). The volume of absorbent solution and the extraction time determined at suitable conditions for measuring ozone were 100$\mu$L and 60 min, respectively. The changes of fluorescence were observed with incresing the storage period of passive samplers in ambient air. but the cool storage in a refrigerator did not remarkably influence the increase of fluorescence. The measurement for the precision oi the passive sampling was carried out with duplicate measurement of passive samplers. The intra-class correlation coefficients of passive samplers using dry and wet filters were 0.992 and 0.962, respectively The results from field validation tests indicated practical agreement (dry filter: r=0.963, wet filter: r=0.995) between the passive sampler and an UV photometric $O_3$ analyzer. The limit of quantification of ozone passive samplers with sampling time of 8 hr (wet filter) and 24 hr (dry filter) were 8.0 ppb and 2.7 ppb, respectively.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
• /
• v.18 no.5
• /
• pp.383-391
• /
• 2002

Six types of ozone passive samplers were fabricated with three different filter substrates and two colorants, and tested for their feasibility on atmospheric monitoring. These passive samplers are based on a colorant which fades (indigo carmine and ChromAir (K&M environmental Inc.)) or produces color (mixture of 3-methyl-2-benzothiazolinone acetone azine and 2-phenylphenol colorant) upon reaction with ozone, whose concentration can be determined by reflectance measurement of the color change. Three filters, namely Whatman No.1 paper, SG81 chromatography paper and Silica Gel coated on polyester (TLC Plates), were prepared and coated with two colorants. The response of these passive samplers in ozone chamber were tested and compared with ChromAir (K&M environmental Inc.) passive sampler. The response of Silica Gel filter impregnated with indigo carmine was the best at the constant concentration exposure.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• /
• v.4 no.2
• /
• pp.208-223
• /
• 1994

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of diffusive(or passive) sampler in measuring airbone organic solvents. Diffusive samplers are generally simple in construction and do not require power for operation. The efficiency of the diffusive samplers has not sufficiently been investigated in Korea. Three types of samplers were studied in this study. The sampling and analytical results by passive samplers were compared with results by charcoal tube method recommended by NIOSH(National Institute for Occupational Safty and Health). The following characteristics are identified and studied as critical to the performance passive monitors; recovery, reverse diffusion, storage stability, accuracy and precision, face velocity and humidity, n-Hexane, TCE(trichloroethylene) and toluene were used as test vapors. A dynamic vapor exposure system consisting of organic vapor generator and sampling chamber for evaluating diffusive samplers are made. The results of the study are summarized as follows. 1. NIOSH recommands that the overall accuracy of a sampling method in the range of 0.5 to 2.0 times the occupational health standard should be ${\pm}25$ percent for 95 percent confidence level. Among three types of diffusive samplers, sampler A has permeation membrane and samplers Band C have diffusive areas, samplers A and B met the criterion that overall accuracy for 95% confidence level of the samplers were within ${\pm}25$ percent of the reference value. Sampler C had overall accuracy ${\pm}9.6%$ and ${\pm}11.8%$ in hexane and TCE, respectively. The concentration of toluene was overestimated in sampler C with overall accuracy of ${\pm}43.9%$. 2. The desorption efficiencies of diffusive samplers were 96-107%. 3. There was no significant sampe loss during four weeks of storage both with and without refrigeration. 4. There was no significant reverse diffusion, when the samplers were exposure to clean air for 2 hours after sampling for 2 hours at the level of 2 TLY. 5. In case of 8 hours sampling, relative differences(RD) of concentrations between charcoal tube method and diffusive method were 15-39%, 13-46%, and 4-35% for sampler A, B and C, respectively. The performance was poor in 8 hours sampling for multiple substance monitors. 6. At high velocity(100 cm/sec), samplers B and C overestimated the concentrations of organic vapors, and sampler A with permeation membrance gave better results. 7. At 80% relative humidity, samplers showed no siginificant effect. Low humidity also did not affect the diffusive samplers.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.35 no.6
• /
• pp.500-509
• /
• 2009

Passive samplers have been used for many years for the sampling of organic vapors in work environment atmospheres. Currently, all passive samplers used in domestic occupational monitoring are foreign products. This study was performed to evaluate variable parameters for the development of passive organic samplers, which include the geometry of the device and diffusive length for the sampler design. Four prototype diffusive lengths; A-1(4.5 mm), A-2(7.0 mm), A-3(9.5 mm), A-4(12.0 mm) were tested for adsorption performances to a chemical mixture (benzene, toluene, trichloroethylene, and n-hexane) according to the US-OSHA's evaluation protocol. A dynamic vapor exposure chamber developed and verified by related research was used for this study. The results of study are as follows. The results in terms of sampling rate and recommended sampling time test indicate that the most suitable model was A-3 (9.5 mm diffusive lengths on both sides) for passive sampler design in time weighted average (TWA) assessment. Sampling rates of this A-3 model were 45.8, 41.5, 41.4, and 40.3 ml/min for benzene, toluene, trichloroethylene, and n-hexane, respectively. The A-3 models were tested on reverse diffusion and conditions of low humidity air (35% RH) and low concentrations (0.2 times of TLV). These conditions had no affect on the diffusion capacity of samplers. In conclusion, the most suitable design parameters of passive sampler are: 1) Geometry and structure - 25 mm diameter and 490 $mm^2$ cross sectional area of diffusion face with cylindrical form of two-sided opposite diffusion direction; 2) Diffusive length - 9.5 mm in both faces; 3) Amount of adsorbent - 300 mg of coconut shell charcoal; 4) Wind screen - using nylon net filters (11 ${\mu}m$ pore size).

• International Journal of Safety
• /
• v.3 no.1
• /
• pp.27-31
• /
• 2004

Some of the petroleum products contain benzene which is well known as a confirmed human carcinogen. For example, gasoline products contain benzene ranging up to several percents by weight. High exposures to the benzene and other organic solvents would be likely to occur during intermittent tasks and or processes rather than continuous jobs such as sampling, repair, inspection, and loading/unloading jobs. The work time for these jobs is various. However, most of work time is very short and the representative time interval is 15 minutes. Thus, it is preferable to do exposure assessment for 15 minute time weighted average which is known as a short time exposure level(STEL) by ACGIH rather than for 8-hours TWA. It is particularly significant to the exposure monitoring for benzene since it has been known that the exposure rate plays an important role to provoke the leukemia. Due to the large variations, a number of processes/tasks, the traditional sampling technique for organic solvents with the use of the charcoal and sampling pumps is not appropriate. Limited number of samples can be obtained due to the shortage of sampling pumps. Passive samplers can eliminate these limitations. However, low sampling rates resulted in collection of small amount of the target analysts in the passive samplers. This is originated the nature of passive samplers. Field applications were made with use of passive samplers to compare with the charcoal tube methods for 15 minutes. Gasoline loading processes to the tank lorry trucks at the loading stations in the petroleum products storage area. Good agreements between the results of passive samplers and those of the charcoal tubes were achieved. However, it was found that special cautions were necessary during the analysis at very low concentration levels.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
• /
• v.7 no.2
• /
• pp.83-88
• /
• 1998

Filter badge type sampler has not been widely used to evaluate air quality over large cities in Korea while it can be successfully used for multi-point sampling and analysis. We evaluated the passive sampler as a new tool to monitor air quality over large cities. We latticed Metropolitan Seoul into $2{\times}2Km$ to give 136 points. $NO_2$ concentrations were measured at all the points in the Spring and Summer of 1997. According to the passive sampler data, natural green zones generally recorded lower $NO_2$ concentrations than major streets and traffic congestion areas. Passive samplers with abundant 136 points gave more detailed picture of $NO_2$ distribution while auto-monitoring network did not clearly provide the characteristics of local land use. Also, passive samplers gave 15% higher values than auto-monitoring network. The correlation between the two values appears very high judging from the regression slope of 0.92 and correlation coefficient of 0.91. This study clearly demonstrates the effectiveness of the passive sampler as a tool to monitor air quality over large cities.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• /
• v.32 no.4
• /
• pp.359-370
• /
• 2022

Objective: This study is intended to design a commercially available passive sampler and conduct performance test on its use as a media for evaluating a working environment. Methods: This study was conducted to select adsorbents, design models, and evaluate storage stability and sampling rates for the development of new types of passive samplers. Results: The impurity detection, adsorbent capacity and breakthrough volume of five types of activated carbon were tested for selection of an adsorbent. One product was selected in consideration of the efficiency of purchase. A number of passive samplers were designed in a radial style and a badge style using plastic as a material. The final two prototypes were made using molds or 3D printing. For the storage stability evaluation, samples were stored at different temperature for 1~21 days and then analyzed. Most of the chemicals had excellent storage stability when refrigerated. However, some chemicals such as dichloromethane and methyl ethyl ketone need to be analyzed as soon as possible after sampling. Conclusion: In this study, new types of passive samplers for 66 chemical compounds were developed. The evaluation of storage stability and sampling rates showed different results depending on the properties of the chemical substance. For some chemicals such as methyl ethyl ketone and dimethylformamide, activated carbon is inappropriate as an absorbent. In future studies, additional experiments are required on chemicals that are difficult to collect with activated carbon.