REPLACEMENT OF CHARCOAL SORBENT IN THE SAMPLING OF VOLATILE ORGANICS FROM STATIONARY SOURCES

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Method 0030 for sampling volatile organics from stationary sources (VOST) specifies the use of petroleu m-based charcoal in the second sorbent tube. Charcoal has proven to be a marginal performer as a sampling sorbent, partly due to inconsisten cy in analyte recovery. In addition, commercial availability of petrol eum charcoal for VOST tubes has been variable. tack of data on compara bility and variability of charcoals for VOST application has created u ncertainty when other charcoals are substituted. Five potential sorben t replacements for charcoal in Method 0030 were evaluated along with a reference charcoal. Two of the sorbents tested. Ambersorb XE-340 and Tenax GR, did not perform well enough to qualify as replacements. Thre e candidates, Anasorb 747, Carbosieve S-III and Kureha Beaded Activate d Charcoal, performed adequately, and produced statistically equivalen t results. Because Anasorb 747 exhibited an excellent combination of p erformance, availability, and cost, it was selected for use in field t ests to follow this study.