BS EN 15980:2011 pdf download – Air quality — Determination of the deposition of benz[a]anthracene, benzo[b]fluoranthene, benzo[j]fluoranthene, benzo[k]fluoranthene, benzo[a]pyrene, dibenz[a,h]anthracene and indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene
7.3 Sampling requirements
Handle sampling equipment such that contamination is avoided. Avoid contact of skin with the glassware of the exposed side of the collector, e.g., by wearing cotton gloves during mounting and dismounting of the collector. The procedures used in the field test are described in B.3 and B.4.
NOTE 1 In order to avoid breaking of glassware due to freezing 100 ml of a saturated NaCl solution may be added before sampling, if low temperatures are expected. If materials like leaves or insects clog the pipe of the funnel, remove them carefully with tweezers and rinse them with water. The rinsing water is added to the collected rain water. Also rinse the funnel carefully. Cleaning of the funnel can be done either at the sampling site or in the laboratory depending on local conditions. Parts of the collector which are transported to the laboratory shall be carefully wrapped, e.g. with aluminium foil.
NOTE 2 The sampled water amount can be determined by weighing the collector before and after exposure. The precipitation rate can be calculated from the water amount, the cross-section of the funnel opening and the exposure time. These data can be compared with meteorological data to check the plausibility of the results. Store equipment in the field so that contamination is prevented, e.g. wrapped in aluminium foil, and kept it in an as clean and dust-free place as possible. Clean the funnel between exposures with wiping material moistened with acetone or methanol, followed by rinsing with water.
Send the funnel to the laboratory for thorough cleaning, if necessary.
The sampling duration shall not exceed 1 month.
SOPs are given in Annex B.
7.4 Sample transport The sample consisting of deposited liquid and solid material and the solution of funnel rinsing shall be transported in suitable containers to the laboratory directly after the end of sampling. The samples shall be kept as cool as practically possible while avoiding exposure to sunlight and contaminants.
NOTE 1 It is recommended to keep the temperature below 30 °C.
NOTE 2 Possible sources of contamination are e.g. vehicle exhausts and tobacco smoke.
8 Sample preparation and analysis
8.1 Sample storage
Store the samples cool and dark before processing. Sample preparation shall be carried out within 1 month after end of sampling. NOTE A degradation test as part of the method validation procedure demonstrated that the composition of a synthetic sample, CRM (urban dust) suspended in rain water, did not change during exposure in the field within a period of 1 month.
8.2 Extraction Both liquid-liquid extraction in combination with filtration and solid phase extraction (SPE) have been shown to be effective for the quantitative extraction of PAH in the laboratory test. These methods are specified in Annex B.
8.3 Analysis
The analysis procedure is specified in Annex C. For BaP it is consistent with EN 15549.
8.4 Interferences Unusual results, peak forms or retention times of PAH may suggest that chromatographic interferences are present. Attention shall be given to interferences concerning BaA, BbF+BjF+BkF and DBahA in GC/MS and BjF in HPLC/FLD (see C.3).
9 Quality assurance
The low ambient concentration of PAH can cause erroneous results unless strict precautions are taken to prevent contamination and other sources of errors. The laboratories collecting PAH data shall therefore have a QC procedure according to the relevant items of EN 15549:2008, Clause 13, which is designed for their sampling and analytical procedures. Laboratory equipment used for storage of samples shall be properly cleaned before use. Laboratory and field blanks shall be taken regularly to check for potential contamination. The check of the purity of reagents is part of the normal laboratory QA/QC programme. The laboratory blanks are used to identify potential contamination sources in the laboratory. The laboratory blanks shall be used to calculate the detection limit (see D.2). If the laboratory blank contributes significantly to the amount of deposition samples for the same period, necessary steps shall be taken to identify the contamination sources and correct the procedure accordingly. Laboratory blanks shall be analysed at least once in every set of extracted samples.