Reliable passive-sampling method for determining outdoor 1,3-butadiene concentrations in air

- 1,3-butadiene was analyzed by passive sampling-thermal desorption GC/MS.
- Ambient ozone does not react with 1,3-butadiene adsorbed by the passive sampler.
- Ozone could penetrate the passive-sampling tube.

We have developed a simple and reliable passive-sampling method for determining outdoor 1,3-butadiene concentrations in air. In this method, 1,3-butadiene is adsorbed on Carboxen 1000 uniformly packed in a porous polytetrafluoroethylene tube and then analyzed by thermal desorption-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The amounts of 1,3-butadiene adsorbed on Carboxen 1000 were 2.8 times as high as those adsorbed on activated carbon. Much greater amounts of 1,3-butadiene were collected with the passive sampler than with an active sampler even though ozone, which reacts rapidly with 1,3-butadiene, could penetrate the passive-sampling tube. These results demonstrate that our method sensitively and reliably determines outdoor 1,3-butadiene concentrations in air, that ambient ozone slowly react with 1,3-butadiene adsorbed by the passive sampler, and that the KI ozone scrubber in an active-sampling system does not completely remove ozone from the system.

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