
Table 10.13 Common sorbent materials and applications
Sorbent material Application
• Anasorb activated charcoal Solvent desorption. Polar organic compounds
• Anasorb graphitized charcoal Various grades for collection of substances of a range of
volatilities
• Charcoal Usually for solvent desorption especially of non-polar
compounds
• Chromasorb Hydrocarbons, high molecular-weight organic vapours,
chlorinated organic compounds
• Florisil Halogenated hydrocarbons including PCBs
• Hopcalite Mercury vapour
• Molecular sieve Nitrogen oxides
• Polyurethane foam Halogenated compounds including PCBs, dioxins, furans
and organophosphorus compounds
• Porous polymer Various types usually for solvent desorption; suitable for a
range of organic compounds including highly polar
substances
• Silica gel Aldehydes, amines, ammonia, chorophenols, esters,
inorganic acid gases, methanol, nitro compounds
• Tenax Various grades for collection of a range of boiling-point
compounds. Suitable for low ambient concentrations
Table 10.14 Thermal desorption of sorbed gas from sample tubes
Advantages over solvent extraction
Elimination of sample preparation and handling of toxic solvents such as carbon disulphide
Absence of solvent simplifies chromatograph
Increased sensitivity
Sample tubes can be reused
Greater range of detection systems to which the desorbed gas can be subjected (e.g. chromatography, infra-red and ultraviolet
spectroscopy, colorimetry)
Limitations
Certain resins undergo degradation even below 250°C
Test sample may be thermally unstable
Not all compounds readily desorb
The entire test sample is used with no opportunity for repeat analyses
Toxic particulates
Airborne particulates include dust, fume and aerosols. Many such particles are invisible to the
naked eye under normal lighting but are rendered visible, by reflection, when illuminated with a
strong beam of light. This is the ‘Tyndall effect’ and use of a dust lamp provides a simple
technique for the rapid assessment of whether a dust is present, its flow pattern, leak sources, the
effects of ventilation, etc. More sophisticated approaches are needed for quantitative data. Whether
personal, spot or static sampling is adopted will depend upon the nature of the information
required.
Air in the general atmosphere, or in the breathing zone of individuals, may be collected using
a pump coupled to a means of isolating particulate matter for subsequent analysis or determination
(Table 10.23). It is important to differentiate between ‘total inhalable dust’ i.e., the fraction of
airborne material which enters the nose and mouth during breathing and is hence available for
deposition in the respiratory tract, and ‘respirable dust’, i.e. the fraction which penetrates to the
gas exchange region of the lung. For this purpose techniques for separating dust or aerosol
TOXIC PARTICULATES 321