Utilization of activated carbon as an effective replacement for a commercialized three-bed sorbent (Carbopack) to quantitate aromatic hydrocarbons in ambient air

The potential use of activated carbon (AC) as an inexpensive and effective alternative sorbent material in thermal desorption is presented and validated for the analysis of aromatic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as benzene, toluene, m-xylene, and styrene (BTXS) in air. The optimum desorption conditions of an AC sampling tube (2 mg AC bed) were determined and compared with a commercial three-bed (Carbopack; C + B + X) tube sampler as a reference. The AC sampler exhibited good linearity (R2 > 0.99) and reproducibility (RSE of 2.38 ± 0.21%) for BTXS analysis. The AC tube sampler showed good storability (up to 3 d) and excellent recyclability (up to 50 cycles). An analysis of BTXS in ambient air showed excellent agreement between AC and CBX (bias