Gas-particle partitioning of pesticides in atmospheric samples

A filter-XAD-2 resin plug high-volume air sampler was used to collect the particle (P) and vapour (V) phases of 11 pesticides. The atmospheric concentrations were measured simultaneously at three sites characterised as remote (Aubure in the Vosges mountains), rural (Colmar, in the upper Rhine Valley), and urban (Strasbourg, in the upper Rhine Valley). The measured concentrations, which agree with those of literature, were used to study the influence of the physico-chemical parameters on the V/P partitioning. The behaviour observed on two organochlorine pesticides (alpha-HCH and HCB), carbaryl, and trifluraline corresponds to the one presented in literature for organochlorine and PAH. Therefore, the V/P partitioning is mainly controlled by temperature, total suspended particle (TSP), and vapour pressure. Nevertheless, the slope of the regression line of log(A.TSP/F) against log P-1(o) (where A and F are, respectively, the gas and particulate concentrations and P-1(o) is the subcooled liquid-vapour pressure) is less compared with that presented in literature (0.36 against approximately 0.85). This difference could possibly result from the low TSP concentrations measured in our study. For some pesticides (trifluraline, gamma-HCH, mecoprop, carbofuran and atrazine) the description of the V/P partitioning is improved by using relative humidity in addition to the three previous environmental parameters (temperature, TSP and vapour pressure). There seems to exist a competition mechanism between water molecules in gas phase and pesticides to adsorb on the receiving sites of the particles. By this mechanism increase in the atmospheric relative humidity induces a simultaneous increase of pesticides in the gas phase. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.