Development of a highly sensitive method for determining atmospheric carbonyl compounds by passive sampling and application of the method to a survey of indoor air

A simple, highly sensitive analytical method for measuring many kinds of carbonyls in air using a passive sampler containing a sorbent (silica gel) coated with 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine has been developed. The carbonyls collected by the sampler were extracted with a solvent, and the extracts were subjected to high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC; UV detection) without first being concentrated. In this method, the volume injection is examined, and is found to have a sensitivity at least 20 times that of ordinary HPLC methods. The air concentrations of nine carbonyls collected by passive sampling over a period of 24?h were estimated by means of conversion equations derived from the results of active sampling;c?=?^{10log ( y} )^{??? b ] a} , where c is the carbonyl concentration in air (µg/m³); y is the amount of carbonyl collected by the passive sampler (µg); and a and b are constants for each carbonyl compound. The calculated air concentrations were consistent with the concentrations measured by active sampling. This method may be useful in determining personal exposure to ambient carbonyls.