Developing Methods to Measure Concentration Profiles in Solid Materials Using Solid Phase Micro Extraction (SPME)

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in indoor air have been correlated with numerous health problems by epidemiologists and toxicologists. However many of these health problems have not been linked to any particular pollutant since current methods for collecting exposure data are very limited. It is our goal to derive methods which provide health scientists with the historic exposure data needed for their studies by taking advantage of unique concentration profiles due to diffusion of air pollutants into and out of building materials. To date we have developed methods to measure chemicals activities in polyurethane foam (PUF; used in furniture cushions) using solid phase micro-extraction (SPME), measure the diffusion coefficient of toluene in PUF, create concentration profiles under conditions similar to indoor environments, and model the measured concentration profiles. For the PUF material tested, the toluene diffusion coefficient at room temperature was 0.00078 cm22/s (± 0.00035). Uncertainty associated with measuring concentration profiles using SPME has also been quantified (± 2.1%)