Passive sampling of airborne furan indoors by solid-phase microextraction

Abstract

Furan may be formed in food under heat treatment and is highly suspected to appear in indoor air. The possible exposure to indoor furan raises concerns because it has been found to cause carcinogenicity and cytotoxicity in animals. To determine airborne furan, solid-phase microextraction (SPME) technique was utilised as a diffusive sampler. The Carboxen/Polydimethylsiloxane (CAR/PDMS, 75 μm) fibre was used, and the SPME fibre assembly was inserted into a polytetrafluoroethene tubing. Furan of known concentrations was generated in Tedlar gas bags for the evaluation of SPME diffusive samplers. After sampling, the sampler was inserted into the injection port of a gas chromatograph coupled with a mass spectrometer (GC/MS) for thermal desorption and analysis. Validation of the SPME device with active sampling by charcoal tube was performed side by side as well. The charcoal tube was desorbed by acetone before analysis with GC/MS. The experimental sampling constant of the sampler was found equal to (9.93 ± 1.28) × 10−3 (cm3 min−1) at 25°C. Furthermore, side-by-side validations between SPME device and charcoal tube showed linear relationship with r = 0.9927. The designed passive sampling device for furan has the advantages of both passive sampling and SPME technique and looks suitable for assessing indoor air quality.