Development of a method for time-resolved measurement of airborne acrolein

Over the past several years there has been an ever-increasing demand for method(s) that can reliably and simply measure environmental concentrations of airborne acrolein. There are several methods that appear to reliably measure acrolein. However, these methods are either extremely complex, requiring specialized equipment and therefore are not practical for personal sampling, or have relatively low-sampling rates, requiring relatively long (i.e., >24 h) sampling durations. This manuscript reports the development and evaluation of a method that can provide time-resolved measurements of airborne acrolein at typical environmental levels and can be used for personal measurement. The method utilizes a dansylhydrazine (DNSH)-coated silica-based-bonded C18 sorbent to collect acrolein using an air sampling pump. Results indicated that the method was suitable for short-term (i.e., 30 min) and long-term (i.e., 24 h) sampling durations at sampling rates from 50 to 250 mL min−1. Results also indicated that relative humidity from 30% to 90%, temperature from 20 to 40 °C, and the presence of ozone up to 250 ppb did not affect the performance of the method. The method had a limit of detection of 0.24 μg m−3 for a 30 min sampling duration at 250 mL min−1. This method sensitivity is comparable to those of the other more complex acrolein measurement methods.