Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology (2019) 16:2809–2820 https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-018-1856-y ORIGINAL PAPER Atmospheric monitoring at an oil field in northern Kuwait using diffusive passive samplers A. Ramadan 1  · M. Al‑Rashidi 1 Received: 30 June 2017 / Revised: 30 January 2018 / Accepted: 12 June 2018 / Published online: 18 June 2018 © Islamic Azad University (IAU) 2018 Abstract Diffusive passive samplers (DPSs) were used to measure the time-averaged indoor and outdoor concentrations of NO 2 , SO 2 , H 2 S, NH 3 , and a selection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) [i.e., benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, o-xylene, and M + P-xylene (BTEX) as well as nonane and octane] at a Kuwait Oil Company compound in north Kuwait over four seasons. The indoor locations represented typical office spaces while the outdoor ones represented a typical industrial site. Triplicate sets of DPSs along with field blanks were exposed at each location for 720 h on average. DPSs sampling concurred with measurements by continuous ambient air quality analyzers. Utilizing a scaling/calibration factor derived from the comparison between the two techniques, the hourly and daily concentrations were estimated allowing by which direct comparison with the Kuwait Environment Public Authority (KEPA) national ambient air quality standards (NAAQSs). The results reflected the meteorological conditions and the activities on ground during sampling. The variation between the measured concentra- tions was always less than 20% of the arithmetic average of the triplicate set which substantiated confidence in the results. The indoor monthly averaged concentrations of all compounds over the four seasons, except SO 2 , were higher than those measured outdoors with levels of NO 2 , SO 2 , H 2 S, NH 3 , and VOCs, being 11.512, 0.665, 6.496, 18.158, and 82.923 µg/m 3 , respectively. As for the outdoor concentrations, they were 11.080, 16.631, 1.206, 2.218, and 7.284 µg/m 3 for NO 2 , SO 2 , H 2 S, NH 3 , and VOCs, respectively. The calculated hourly and daily concentrations showed the site concerned was in conformity with KEPA’s NAAQSs. Keywords Air pollution · VOCs · Inorganic pollutants · Passive samplers · Oil field Introduction Kuwait is a major oil-producing country with many oil-refin- ing activities. Electricity generation is entirely dependent on burning fossil fuels with high levels of sulfur in most cases. Another source of air pollution is vehicular emission with vehicles being entirely dependent on fossil fuels too. The poor air quality is aggravated by the prevailing and naturally occurring hot and arid climate associated with high concen- trations of suspended particulates in the atmosphere due to local or trans-boundary dust storms. The aforementioned factors confine many of the daily human activities into an artificially conditioned indoor environment, where people are essentially locked up inside buildings with low rates of air exchange between indoor and outdoor environments. Still, the indoor environment in these buildings is far from ideal, as in addition to the seepage of outdoor pollutants indoors, combustion products from cooking, volatile organ- ics from paints, adhesives, cosmetics, insecticide, fresheners, furniture, carpets, wall papers, and other building materials are all sources of indoor air pollution. Diffusive passive samplers (DPSs) are used to provide a qualitative and quantitative ambient air concentration for many individual compounds (e.g., SO 2 , NO 2 , H 2 S, and NH 3 ) and chemical classes (e.g., volatile organic compounds or VOCs). The passive sampling relies on the free flow of pollutant molecules from the ambient air to a collecting medium (i.e., sorbent) by molecular diffusion or permeation. The transport is merely driven by the difference in chemical Editorial responsibility: Mohamed F. Yassin. * A. Ramadan aramadan@kisr.edu.kw 1 Environmental Pollution and Climate Program, Environment and Life Sciences Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, P.O. Box 24885, 13109 Safat, Kuwait