Ongoing Laboratory Performance Study on Chemical Analysis of Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Compounds in Three Aquatic Passive Samplers

Authors

Kees Booij
Steven Crum
Branislav Vrana
Roman Grabic
Nicolas A.O. Morin
Koen Parmentier
Cécile Kech
Petra Krystek
Kazushi Noro
Benjamin Becker
Rainer Lohmann, University of Rhode IslandFollow
Laure Malleret
Sarit L. Kaserzon
Cécile Miège
Fabrice Alliot
Fabienne Pfeiffer
Denis Crowley
Magdalena Rakowska
Tomas Ocelka
Gi Beum Kim
Laura Röhler

Document Type

Article

Date of Original Version

2024

Department

Oceanography

Abstract

The quality of chemical analysis is an important aspect of passive sampling-based environmental assessments. The present study reports on a proficiency testing program for the chemical analysis of hydrophobic organic compounds in silicone and low-density polyethylene (LDPE) passive samplers and hydrophilic compounds in polar organic chemical integrative samplers. The median between-laboratory coefficients of variation (CVs) of hydrophobic compound concentrations in the polymer phase were 33% (silicone) and 38% (LDPE), similar to the CVs obtained in four earlier rounds of this program. The median CV over all rounds was 32%. Much higher variabilities were observed for hydrophilic compound concentrations in the sorbent: 50% for the untransformed data and a factor of 1.6 after log transformation. Limiting the data to the best performing laboratories did not result in less variability. Data quality for hydrophilic compounds was only weakly related to the use of structurally identical internal standards and was unrelated to the choice of extraction solvent and extraction time. Standard deviations of the aqueous concentration estimates for hydrophobic compound sampling by the best performing laboratories were 0.21 log units for silicone and 0.27 log units for LDPE (factors of 1.6 to 1.9). The implications are that proficiency testing programs may give more realistic estimates of uncertainties in chemical analysis than within-laboratory quality control programs and that these high uncertainties should be taken into account in environmental assessments.

Publication Title, e.g., Journal

Environmental Science & Technology

Volume

58

Issue

15

Citation/Publisher Attribution

Booij, K. et al. (2024) ‘Ongoing Laboratory Performance Study on Chemical Analysis of Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Compounds in Three Aquatic Passive Samplers’, Environmental Science & Technology, 58(15), 6772–6780. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.3c10272

Available at: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.3c10272