Comparison of portable gas chromatographs and passivated canisters for field sampling airborne toxic organic vapors in the United States and the USSR

Air sample collection with passivated canisters is widely applied in atmospheric VOC analysis because preconcentration is usually required to detect analytes. However, sample integrity can be compromised by deterioration or artifact formation during storage and preconcentration. A laboratory-tested portable gas chromatograph (PGC) equipped with a sensitive photoionization detector offers the advantage of near real-time data without preconcentration. Data produced simultaneously by the canister method and PGCs in the US and the former USSR are reported and contrasted. A combination of the canister and PGC methods appears to offer a synergistic approach to source assessment measurements.