• Please log in or register to access this feature.

Environmental Chemistry

Development of a low-density polyethylene-containing passive sampler for measuring dissolved hydrophobic organic compounds in open waters

  1. Lian-Jun Bao1,2,
  2. Shi-Ping Xu1,
  3. Yan Liang3,
  4. Eddy Y. Zeng1,*

Article first published online: 23 MAR 2012

DOI: 10.1002/etc.1788

Issue

Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry

Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry

Volume 31, Issue 5, pages 1012–1018, May 2012

Additional Information

How to Cite

Bao, L.-J., Xu, S.-P., Liang, Y. and Zeng, E. Y. (2012), Development of a low-density polyethylene-containing passive sampler for measuring dissolved hydrophobic organic compounds in open waters. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 31: 1012–1018. doi: 10.1002/etc.1788

Author Information

  1. 1

    State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China

  2. 2

    Graduate School, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

  3. 3

    Department of Biology, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China

*State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China.

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 17 APR 2012
  2. Article first published online: 23 MAR 2012
  3. Accepted manuscript online: 2 MAR 2012 12:56PM EST
  4. Manuscript Accepted: 30 DEC 2011
  5. Manuscript Revised: 28 NOV 2011
  6. Manuscript Received: 18 OCT 2011

SEARCH

SEARCH BY CITATION

ARTICLE TOOLS

View Full Article with Supporting Information (HTML) Get PDF (259K)

Keywords:

  • Low-density polyethylene;
  • Passive sampling;
  • Hydrophobic organic compound;
  • Open water;
  • Field validation

Abstract

A passive water sampler with low-density polyethylene (LDPE) as the sorbent phase was built and field-tested for sensing freely dissolved concentrations of hydrophobic organic compounds (HOCs) in fresh and coastal water. Based on the measured LDPE–water partition coefficients (Kpew) of 12 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and its seven metabolites, the detection limits with the passive sampler containing 10-g LDPE ranged from 0.04 to 56.9 pg/L in the equilibrium sampling mode. Furthermore, the utility of the passive sampler in measuring dissolved HOC concentrations in open waters was examined through a comparison with solid-phase extraction combined with liquid–liquid extraction (SPE-LLE) and poly(dimethyl)siloxane (PDMS) coated fiber samplers. The total concentrations of PAHs (3.8–16 ng/L) obtained by the passive sampler were lower than those (87.7–115.5 ng/L) obtained through SPE-LLE. This large difference was probably attributable to slower water exchange in and out of the passive sampler as time progressed because of blockage by algae in eutrophia reservoirs and high dissolved organic carbon contents resulting in higher-than-expected PAH concentrations by SPE-LLE. Furthermore, the concentrations and compositional profiles of DDXs (sum of p,p′-DDT, p,p′-DDD, p,p′-DDE, o,p′-DDT, o,p′-DDD, o,p′-DDE, and p,p′-DDMU) at site A obtained by the passive sampler agreed with the results obtained with the PDMS-coated fibers, suggesting that the passive sampler was able to reasonably quantify dissolved HOCs in seawater. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 2012; 31: 1012–1018. © 2012 SETAC

View Full Article with Supporting Information (HTML) Get PDF (259K)