• Universitat de València

Passive samplers allow the presence of contaminants in a medium to be monitored by establishing their average concentration over the sampling time interval. However, current samplers are limited to the analysis of a family of compounds with similar physico-chemical properties, so that different samplers must be used for multiple sampling of a large number of pollutants and are relatively expensive. It is therefore necessary to improve their performance and lower their price.

Researchers at the Universitat de València have developed a versatile, easy and fast monitoring protocol for organic pollutants in air based on the development of the passive sampler (VERAM), which consists of a flat tube of polymeric material filled with a solid phase or phase mixture. Contaminants retained in the sorbent are determined directly by gas chromatography using headspace injection after heating of the sampling device, minimising sample handling, avoiding the use of solvents and reducing analysis time. The combination of solid phases allows sampling of all possible pollutants in the air or the selection of solid phases that facilitate specific sampling for a family of compounds according to their physico-chemical properties.

The main application of the technology is:

• In the field of environmental monitoring: as a procedure for passive sampling of atmospheric pollutants using the VERAM device and subsequent determination of these organic pollutants. This protocol can be used both for occupational health evaluation at work (e.g. in refineries, paint factories or crop greenhouses) and for the selection of critical pollution areas for air quality monitoring networks.

The main benefits of the invention are:

• Versatility of the VERAM device, which allows a single sampling of many contaminants with a single device containing a combination of solid phases.
• Higher adsorption capacity and higher analytical sensitivity with shorter sampling time.
• Fast and low-cost contaminant analysis. Thermal desorption and headspace injection minimises sample handling, does not require the use of solvents - avoiding possible contamination of blanks - and reduces analysis time.
• Lower cost of sampling devices featuring a simple and fast manufacturing process.
• VERAM allows multi-directional sampling, as opposed to the radial or unidirectional sampling of other samplers using encapsulated solid sorbents.

• Patent granted