Evaluation of Passive Samplers for Analysis of Chlorinated Solvents

Abstract

Abstract Chlorinated solvents like tetrachloroethylene, chloroform, and trichloroethylene were trapped on commercially available diffusive sampling devices and then desorbed with carbon disulfide (1.5 mL) containing surrogate standards. The extract was analyzed by gas chromatography with electron capture detection (ECD). To overcome the incompatibility of carbon disulfide with the electron capture detector, an electronically driven, high-temperature, 6- port valve was attached to the oven of a the gas chromatograph. An RTX 502 (105 m 𝖷 0.53 mm) capillary column was connected between the injector and the detector through the 6-port valve. The solvent peak was vented by rotating the valve before the peak reached the detector, and the valve was rotated to its original position before the peak due to chloroform eluted. The sampling time of 8-24 h and the use of ECD have led to detection limits of 0.5 μg/m3 for many chlorinated solvents