Atmospheric Environment 41 (2007) 5778–5787 A field comparison of ethylene vinyl acetate and low-density polyethylene thin films for equilibrium phase passive air sampling of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons Karen E. Kennedy a,Ã , Darryl W. Hawker b , Jochen F. Mu¨ller a , Michael E. Bartkow a , Rowan W. Truss c a The National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology (ENTOX), University of Queensland, 39 Kessels Rd. Coopers Plains, QLD. 4108, Australia b Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Griffith University, Nathan QLD. 4111, Australia c School of Engineering, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD. 4072, Australia Received 12 November 2006; received in revised form 16 February 2007; accepted 20 February 2007 Abstract Ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) and low-density polyethylene (LDPE) were compared as thin film polymer passive air samplers for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). These samplers were co-deployed for periods of up to 27 days at an urban field site in Brisbane. Despite demonstrated air side resistance to mass transfer, sampling rate ratios indicate rapid accumulation kinetics for EVA compared with LDPE. Confirming theoretically predicted values, sampler-air partition coefficients were greater for EVA as compared with LDPE. The relatively high capacity of EVA films may be an advantage in terms of sensitivity, when film thickness and hence amounts accumulated at equilibrium, are low. Predictions of times to effective equilibrium ðt eq ð95%Þ Þ were made for a nominal film thickness of 1 mm. These predictions indicate that both types of films would be effective equilibrium phase samplers for predominantly vapour phase PAHs with log octanol-air partition coefficients ðlog K OA Þ values of p8.7 (pyrene). Despite comparatively rapid linear stage kinetics for EVA, the predicted times to effective equilibrium for PAHs are less for LDPE. This arises due to the relative magnitude of their respective K SA values. The predicted times to equilibrium (25 1C) for pyrene for example are approximately 94 and 34 days for EVA and LDPE, respectively. r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Passive air sampling; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; Low-density polyethylene; Ethylene vinyl acetate 1. Introduction Passive air samplers have proven to be a relatively inexpensive and convenient monitoring technique for semivolatile organic chemicals (SOCs) in air. These samplers have been simultaneously deployed over continental scales and across several degrees of latitude in order to assess both spatial variation and global fractionation theories for SOCs (Ockenden et al., 1998b; Jaward et al., 2004a, b; Shen et al., 2004). Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a class of SOCs which may have both carcinogenic ARTICLE IN PRESS www.elsevier.com/locate/atmosenv 1352-2310/$ - see front matter r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2007.02.033 Ã Corresponding author. Tel.: +61 7 32749060; fax: +61 7 32749003. E-mail address: k.kennedy@uq.edu.au (K.E. Kennedy).