Use of passive samplers for the determination of gaseous organic substances in indoor air at low concentration levels.

The design and calibration of a passive sampler operating according to the diffusion principle and its application to the analysis of indoor air are described. Taking aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons as representative pollutants, it is demonstrated that at constant concentration, the amount of substance trapped by the sampler is a linear function of the time of exposure. An equation is given relating this amount of substance to the mean pollutant concentration. The detection limit is of an order of 300 microgram/(m3.h). For test gas atmospheres variation coefficients of between 5 and 10% were determined for a 24-hour exposure in an atmosphere with concentrations of the individual hydrocarbons between 150 and 600 microgram/m3.