Applicability of a gas chromatograph-photoionization detection analyzer for the continuous monitoring of 1,3-butadiene in urban and industrial atmospheres

Abstract

This study focuses on the implementation of a gas chromatograph-photoionization detection (GC-PID) analyzer for the continuous monitoring of 1,3-butadiene (1,3-BD) levels in urban and industrial atmospheres. Its aim was twofold. First, feasibility assays were carried out during a sampling period of 8 days in an industrial atmosphere. The values recorded with the GC-PID analyzer were compared with those obtained by active and passive sampling followed by thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (TD-GC-MS). The 6-h average concentrations of 1,3-BD recorded with the GC-PID analyzer were comparable with those obtained by active sampling. The concentration peaks determined with both methodologies coincided in concentration values and time slots. The 8-day average concentrations of 1,3-BD found with the three methodologies applied were also similar. Secondly, the applicability of the GC-PID analyzer in urban atmospheres was tested in Constantí, a town near the petrochemical zone of Tarragona. Individual 1,3-BD concentrations were in the range of below MDL and 49 μg m−3 with 99% of the values being below 2 μg m−3. The results were shown to be strictly related to prevailing wind direction and activities carried out in the petrochemical zone under study. Other factors affecting the distribution of this pollutant in the atmosphere, i.e. UV radiation and ozone and nitrogen oxides concentrations, were relegated to the background.