Vapor-particle partitioning of semivolatile organic compounds: estimates from field collections

Pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), and other semivolatile organic compounds (SOC) exist in air as vapors and are associated with particulate matter. Factors influencing the vapor-to-particle distribution can be obtained from high-volume sampling experiments using a glass-fiber filter to collect particles and an adsorbent trap to collect vapors. Measurements of airborne organo-chlorine pesticides and PCB in four cites over a wide temperature range were used to estimate apparent partition coefficients A(TSP)/F, where A and F are the adsorbent- and filter-retained SOC concentrations (ng/m super(3)) and TSP is the total suspended particle concentration ( mu g/m super(3)).