Validation studies on activated carbon fiber passive sampler for PCDD/Fs and PCBs in water

Marina Cerasa; Paolo Benedetti; Adriana De Stefanis; Ettore Guerriero; Silvia Mosca; Alessandro Bacaloni; Mauro Rotatori

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2019.124666

Validation studies on activated carbon fiber passive sampler for PCDD/Fs and PCBs in water

Chemosphere. 2020 Jan:239:124666. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2019.124666. Epub 2019 Aug 25.

Authors

Marina Cerasa¹, Paolo Benedetti², Adriana De Stefanis³, Ettore Guerriero², Silvia Mosca², Alessandro Bacaloni⁴, Mauro Rotatori²

Affiliations

¹ National Research Council of Italy - Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research (CNR-IIA), Via Salaria km 29.3, 00015, Monterotondo (RM), Italy; Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, 00185, Italy. Electronic address: marina.cerasa@iia.cnr.it.
² National Research Council of Italy - Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research (CNR-IIA), Via Salaria km 29.3, 00015, Monterotondo (RM), Italy.
³ National Research Council of Italy - Institute of Structure of Matter (CNR - ISM), Via Salaria km 29.3, 00015, Monterotondo (RM), Italy.
⁴ Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, 00185, Italy.

PMID: 31479911
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2019.124666

Abstract

The toxicity of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and dibenzofurans (PCDFs) is well known, and for this reason studying and monitoring these chemicals is fundamental. Activated carbon fibers (ACFs) are made of an adsorbent material widely used in the industrial field for the removal of micropollutants. The first step in this work was to perform a physico-chemical characterization of the adsorbent, focused on the analytical use of it. In particular, its specific surface area was defined around 2500 m²/g consisting in a homogeneous microporosity distribution and the characterization of ACF surface functional groups pointed out a balance between basic and acidic group. The validity of using the ACF as solid phase extraction and as passive sampler for PCDD/Fs and PCBs in water, has been evaluated by the percentage recovery (R %) of ¹³C₁₂-labeled standards of PCDD/Fs and PCBs added in a known volume of water. The results were compared to the R% of Liquid-Liquid Extraction which showed a better reproducibility of the results and the proposed method satisfy completely the requirements of US EPA reference methods.

Keywords: Activated carbon fiber; Extraction; PCB; PCDD/F; Passive sampler; Water sampling.

Publication types

Validation Study

MeSH terms

Benzofurans / analysis
Carbon Fiber
Charcoal / chemistry*
Dibenzofurans, Polychlorinated / analysis*
Environmental Monitoring / methods*
Environmental Restoration and Remediation / methods*
Polychlorinated Biphenyls / analysis*
Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins / analysis*
Reproducibility of Results
Solid Phase Extraction
Water

Substances

Benzofurans
Carbon Fiber
Dibenzofurans, Polychlorinated
Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins
Water
Charcoal
Polychlorinated Biphenyls