Calibration of POCIS and PASSIL passive samplers – influence of humic acids

Abstract

One of the techniques of monitoring pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment is passive extraction. The passive sampler should be calibrated before use, which means that the values of the sampling rates (Rs) should be determined. The Rs values depends on environmental conditions, such as the presence of dissolved organic matter, in particular humic acids (Söderström, Lindberg, & Fick, 2009). The aim of the present research was to compare the calibration process of two types of passive samplers in the presence of humic acids dissolved in water. As examples of passive samplers, commercially available polar organic chemical integrated sampler (POCIS) and PASSIL sampler (PASSIL PASsive Sampling by Ionic Liquds) (Caban, Mȩczykowska, & Stepnowski, 2016) were used. In the POCIS sampler, a solid sorbent is used as the acceptor phase, whereas in PASSIL, for this purpose an ionic liquid is used ([P66614][N(CN)2]).