The Determination of Rubber in Atmospheric Dusts

Abstract

Abstract Samples of airborne dusts were collected near heavily traveled highways and analyzed for rubber by pyrolysis gas chromatography. Dust samples obtained in truck traffic gave pyrolysis chromatograms markedly different from those obtained in passenger car traffic, and which correspond with those derived from known tire tread compounds. The distinction was based on the presence of styrene or dipentene in the pyrolyzates. Quantitative determination of dusts from the Pittsburgh Liberty Tunnel and the Akron Expressway Interchange show the presence of 1.5 to 2.5 per cent rubber, whereas dust from a residential area shows about 0.25 per cent. Methods were developed for sampling atmospheric dusts and preparing small amounts in a form suitable for pyrolysis.