Monitoring the air they breathe in China
Scientists at Tsinghua University have developed a system for testing the air in indoor environments for the volatile organic compounds benzene, toluene and xylene (BTX), which are common indoor air pollutants in China that can have chronic adverse health effects on humans. There are currently few data on indoor BTX concentration levels because of a lack of cost-effective sampling techniques.
The scientists developed a passive sampler suitable for long-term sampling using hydrophobic silica zeolites as an adsorbent, because they have a large capacity for adsorbing BTX and they are compatible with thermal desorption – the method used to transfer samples from the sampler to GC-MS for analysis. They tested the device in the laboratory, taking into account various environmental factors including wind temperature and humidity. They also evaluated the device under real conditions and showed that it was comparable with currently used commercial active samplers, which are more expensive and require power supplies and human attendance.
Most read news
Original publication
Topics
Organizations
Other news from the department science
Get the chemical industry in your inbox
From now on, don't miss a thing: Our newsletter for the chemical industry, analytics, lab technology and process engineering brings you up to date every Tuesday and Thursday. The latest industry news, product highlights and innovations - compact and easy to understand in your inbox. Researched by us so you don't have to.