SEDL / STP / STP786-EB / STP33985S

Sampling and Analysis of Airborne Fenitrothion and Tris(2-Ethylhexyl)Phosphate

Krzymien, ME
Associate research officer, Unsteady Aerodynamics Laboratory, National Aeronautical Establishment, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, Ont.

Pages: 12    Published: Jan 1982

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Abstract

An analytical technique is described for simultaneous determination of fenitrothion and tris(2-ethylhexyl)phosphate (TEHP) in air. Total airborne (vapor and aerosol) fenitrothion and TEHP were collected in glass tubes 75 by 6.3 mm outside diameter containing a 10-mm plug of Tenax GC. Air was drawn through the adsorber at a rate of about 1 L/min for a period of up to 4 h to measure the dosage of fenitrothion and TEHP or for 2 to 3 min to determine timewise variations of concentration. The break-through volume of the adsorbers was larger than 360 L at a sampling rate of 1 L/min. The material collected on Tenax GC was thermally released directly into a gas chromatographic column and analyzed using a thermionic detector. Cascade impactors were used to collect aerosol and measure the drop-size distribution over a range of 1 to 30 μm. The concentrations of fenitrothion and TEHP measured in field experiments varied over a range of 3 × 10⁻¹² g/L to 2 × 10⁻⁸ g/L and 5 × 10⁻¹² g/L to 2 × 10⁻¹⁰ g/L, respectively. The precision of the method was better than ± 10 percent using different adsorbers and ± 5 percent for the same adsorber. Field tests were conducted in New Brunswick forests during the 1980 spruce budworm control program.