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The Use of Polyurethane Foam (PUF) Passive Air Samplers in Exposure Studies to PAHs in Swedish Seafarers

Strandberg, Bo LU ; Österman, Cecilia ; Koca Akdeva, Hatice ; Moldanová, Jana and Langer, Sarka (2022) In Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds 42(2). p.448-459
Abstract

The aim of this study was to test the usefulness of polyurethane foam (PUF) passive air samplers as stationary, and, for the first time, as personal samplers for one week’s sampling period of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in occupational air. Routine monitoring of workplace exposure is commonly performed with active sampling. However, active samplers can sometimes be unsuitable; e.g., it is difficult to make time-integrated measurements, longer than one day, and they can be noisy and obstructive. Indoor air quality on ships is an important aspect of the environment which has not been studied extensively on ships. For seafarers, good indoor air quality becomes particularly important as the ship represents both a working and... (More)

The aim of this study was to test the usefulness of polyurethane foam (PUF) passive air samplers as stationary, and, for the first time, as personal samplers for one week’s sampling period of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in occupational air. Routine monitoring of workplace exposure is commonly performed with active sampling. However, active samplers can sometimes be unsuitable; e.g., it is difficult to make time-integrated measurements, longer than one day, and they can be noisy and obstructive. Indoor air quality on ships is an important aspect of the environment which has not been studied extensively on ships. For seafarers, good indoor air quality becomes particularly important as the ship represents both a working and living environment. In this study, measurements were carried out on two occasions on two different ships, at different workplaces, and for various personnel categories. On each ship, measurements were performed before and after a change of the type of fuel that the ships were operating on. We found a considerable wide range of PAHs exposure levels for the various workplaces and personnel categories on the ships. The stationary measurements, sum 32 PAHs, ranged from 33-39,000 ng m−3 and the personal exposure measurements ranged from 61-8,400 ng m−3. The results point to that the content of PAHs in the fuel can affect the indoor air environment on the entire ship. Further, the results demonstrate that the PUF sampler can serve as a simple and usable screening tool for estimating and tracking point sources of PAHs in micro-environments. Moreover, this study contributes to increased knowledge of exposure to and sources of PAHs for seafarers.

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author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
PAHs, passive samplers, PUF, seafarers, ship, ship fuel
in
Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds
volume
42
issue
2
pages
448 - 459
publisher
Taylor & Francis
external identifiers
  • scopus:85081752497
ISSN
1040-6638
DOI
10.1080/10406638.2020.1739084
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
b06a49ac-3048-4c75-8a0d-a7a6057526a8
date added to LUP
2020-04-10 17:22:42
date last changed
2022-04-18 21:34:51
@article{b06a49ac-3048-4c75-8a0d-a7a6057526a8,
  abstract     = {{<p>The aim of this study was to test the usefulness of polyurethane foam (PUF) passive air samplers as stationary, and, for the first time, as personal samplers for one week’s sampling period of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in occupational air. Routine monitoring of workplace exposure is commonly performed with active sampling. However, active samplers can sometimes be unsuitable; e.g., it is difficult to make time-integrated measurements, longer than one day, and they can be noisy and obstructive. Indoor air quality on ships is an important aspect of the environment which has not been studied extensively on ships. For seafarers, good indoor air quality becomes particularly important as the ship represents both a working and living environment. In this study, measurements were carried out on two occasions on two different ships, at different workplaces, and for various personnel categories. On each ship, measurements were performed before and after a change of the type of fuel that the ships were operating on. We found a considerable wide range of PAHs exposure levels for the various workplaces and personnel categories on the ships. The stationary measurements, sum 32 PAHs, ranged from 33-39,000 ng m<sup>−3</sup> and the personal exposure measurements ranged from 61-8,400 ng m<sup>−3</sup>. The results point to that the content of PAHs in the fuel can affect the indoor air environment on the entire ship. Further, the results demonstrate that the PUF sampler can serve as a simple and usable screening tool for estimating and tracking point sources of PAHs in micro-environments. Moreover, this study contributes to increased knowledge of exposure to and sources of PAHs for seafarers.</p>}},
  author       = {{Strandberg, Bo and Österman, Cecilia and Koca Akdeva, Hatice and Moldanová, Jana and Langer, Sarka}},
  issn         = {{1040-6638}},
  keywords     = {{PAHs; passive samplers; PUF; seafarers; ship; ship fuel}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{448--459}},
  publisher    = {{Taylor & Francis}},
  series       = {{Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds}},
  title        = {{The Use of Polyurethane Foam (PUF) Passive Air Samplers in Exposure Studies to PAHs in Swedish Seafarers}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10406638.2020.1739084}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/10406638.2020.1739084}},
  volume       = {{42}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}