United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Research and Development
Atmospheric Research and
Exposure Assessment Laboratory
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
EPA/600/SR-94/188 November 1994
EPA Project Summary
Evaluation of HVS3 Sampler for
Sampling Polycyclic Aromatic
Hydrocarbons and
Polychlorinated Biphenyls
J. C. Chuang, S. M. Gordon, J. W. Roberts, W. Han, and M. G. Ruby
A polyurethane foam (PUF) filter was
positioned after the cyclone in the High
Volume Small Surface Sampler (HVS3)
to determine the penetration of the cy-
clone by polycyclic aromatic hydrocar-
bon (PAH) and polychlorinated biphe-
nyl (PCB) adsorbed on house dust.
Less than 3% of the PAH and less than
5% of the PCB were found on the PUF
filter compared with the cyclone catch.
Therefore, the HVS3 without a PUF fil-
ter can quantitatively collect PAH and
PCB in house dust, and it was used to
collect house dust samples from seven
houses.
The collected house dust, founda-
tion soil, and entryway soil samples
were analyzed for PAH, PCB, and lead
(Pb). The house dust, foundation soil,
and entryway soil samples were spiked
with a known amount of perdeuterated
PAH, then extracted with hexane (C8),
and analyzed by gas chromatography/
mass spectrometry (GC/MSJ to deter-
mine PAH. Quantitative recoveries of
the spiked perdeuterated PAH were ob-
tained and ranged from 80 to 110%. A
similar analytical procedure was used
to determine PCB, except that 10%
ether in C6 was used as the extracting
solvent and the extract was fraction-
ated by silica gel column chromatogra-
phy prior to GC/MS analysis. Quantita-
tive recoveries of the spiked 13C-labeled
PCB were also obtained (73 to 100%).
The dust and soil samples were ana-
lyzed for Pb by energy dispersive X-
ray fluorescence (XRF).
The concentration of PAH was higher
in the house dust than in the founda-
tion soil. The PAH concentrations in
the entryway soil samples were higher
than that in the house dust samples in
three houses, and similar or lower con-
centrations were observed in the re-
maining houses. The PAH concentra-
tions of entryway soil were higher than
that in the foundation soil samples in
all houses. The sum of the concentra-
tions of all the target PAH in the house
dust ranged from 6.1 to 26 ug/g (ppm),
and that in the foundation soil ranged
from 1.1 to 3.7 ppm. The sum of the
concentrations of PAH in the entryway
soil samples varied from 2.9 to 20 ppm.
The concentration of the sum of all the
target PCB in the house dust and soil
varied from 260 to 760 ng/g (ppb) and
58 to 240 ppb, respectively. The con-
centration of Pb in the house dust
ranged from 250 to 2250 ppm and 200
to 4000 ppm, respectively. For all but
three houses, higher concentrations of
Pb were found in the foundation soil
than in the house dust. By contrast,
concentrations of PAH and PCB were
higher in the house dust than in the
soil samples.
This report is submitted in fulfillment
of Contract Number 68-DO-0007, Work
Assignment No. 35, Task 2, by Battelle
under the sponsorship of the U.S. En-
vironmental Protection Agency (EPA).
This report covers the period between
January 3, 1993, and August 31, 1993.
Work was completed as of August 31,
1993.
This Project Summary was developed
by EPA's Atmospheric Research and
Exposure Assessment Laboratory, Fle-
Printed on Recycled Paper
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search Triangle Park, NC, to announce
key findings of the research project
that Is fully documented in a separate
report of the same title (see Project
Report ordering information at back).
Introduction
House dust is becoming recognized as
an increasingly important source of
nonoccupational exposure to Pb and pes-
ticides. Other data suggest that PAHs and
PCBs may also be persistent in the envi-
ronment and collect in soil. Menzie et ai.
estimate that urban soils may contain from
600 to 3000 ppb of PAH, with the higher
values resulting in areas of heavy traffic
or industrialization, compared to 5 to 100
ppb in background forest soils. With some
of the PAH identified as potential carcino-
gens, the PAH content of house dust may
add significantly to the health risks of very
young children who typically spend a lot
of time crawling on floors and carpets and
may have a daily dust intake of 0.02 to
0.2 g. There is very little data currently
available on PAH and PCB concentra-
tions in house dust and its possible ori-
gins. One potential source of PAH and
PCB in house dust is the foundation soil
surrounding the house.
The HVS3 can collect a reproducible
sample of surface dust from different sur-
faces, particularly carpeted surfaces, with
a relatively constant removal efficiency
over a wide range of dust loadings. De-
tailed tests have shown that the HVS3 is
effective in sampling for Pb and pesti-
cides.
The HVS3 collects a surface dust
sample in a cyclone with an approximate
5-Hm cut. Previous studies have shown
that more than 99% of the Pb present in
the dust on a rug is collected in the cy-
clone. These same studies showed that
more than 97% of five pesticides, repre-
senting a range of vapor pressures, in
rug dust were captured in the cyclone.
Since the PAH and PCB of most interest
are also semivolatile organic compounds
that lie within the range of vapor pres-
sures of pesticides tested, it was reasoned
that the HVS3 should be a reliable instru-
ment for collecting these compounds
adsorbed on house dust.
In using the HVS3 to collect these com-
pounds, one concern is that material may
be lost by leaving the cyclone either on
particles too small to be captured, on par-
ticles that are blown out of the cyclone
catch cup, or by being stripped off the
particles by the air stream. In any of these
cases, capturing the lost material would
require both a particle filter and a vapor
adsorbent located behind the cyclone.
A PDF filter was used in the original
High Volume Surface Sampler (HVS2) as
a final gas filter. The PUF filter was pre-
ceded by a quartz-fiber filter. By contrast,
a PUF filter is used alone, without a par-
ticulate matter filter, in the standard EPA
TO-10 air sampling method for ambient
pesticides. It is preceded by a quartz-fiber
filter in both the TO-4 sampling method
for PCB and the TO-13 sampling method
for PAH.
Camann et al. have shown that a PUF
plug without a quartz-fiber prefilter gives
equivalent recovery of pesticides compared
to a PUF plug with a quartz-fiber prefilter.
This suggests that the PUF plug is suffi-
ciently effective as a particle filter, that an
additional filter, such as the quartz-fiber
filter used with the HVS2, is not neces-
sary. Therefore, the collection efficiency
of the cyclone in the HVS3 for PAH and
PCB can be demonstrated by capturing
PAH and PCB with a PUF plug installed
behind the cyclone.
Objectives
The objectives of this study were to 1)
determine whether the HVS3 can quanti-
tatively collect PAH and PCB adsorbed
onto house dust and 2) obtain concentra-
tion profiles for PAH and PCB in house
dust and foundation soil samples from nine
houses in Seattle, WA, in 1993.
Procedures
The collection efficiency of the cyclone
was tested in two houses. Naturally oc-
curring PAH and PCB compounds were
measured rather than compounds spiked
onto house dust in known quantities. It
was therefore necessary to collect all the
dust and vapors that pass through the
cyclone to determine the amount that is
not collected by the cyclone. This was
done by inserting a PUF filter in the sam-
pling train behind the cyclone.
The added pressure drop of the PUF
filter reduced the capacity of the fan in-
stalled in the HVS3. To ensure that the
required volumetric flow rate would be
achieved on all types of carpets, the in-
stalled fan was backed up with a blower
(Cadillac Model HP33P) placed in-line be-
hind the exhaust of the installed fan. Tests
with the HVS3, the Cadillac blower, and a
laminar flow element demonstrated this
arrangement could provide the desired flow
rates and permitted the development of
new pressure drop-flow rate curves.
This modified HVS3, with the PUF filter
and Cadillac blower, was used to collect
dust from rugs in two houses. The tests
were conducted following the American
Society for Testing Materials (ASTM)
method and the manufacturer's instruc-
tions at the recommended airflow rates.
The location of these houses and other
relevant information are provided along
with information about the remaining test
houses.
Foundation soil samples from these
houses were collected within 2 ft of the
foundation. Approximately 7 g was col-
lected on each side from the top 2 cm of
soil with a stainless steel spoon. If, for
some reason, samples could not be col-
lected from one side of the house, then
extra samples were collected on the other
sides of the house. About 10 g of soil
from each sample was used to determine
the moisture content of the sample.
A sample of entryway soil was collected
from the door mat at the primary entrance
of each home. The entryway soil samples
No. 2 and 15 were collected under a tire-
tread doormat with a brush and dust pan.
Samples No. 7, 9, and 14 were collected
at the side or back door. Sample No. 14
was mostly fiber from the mat. All the
other samples were collected from the
front door mats. These samples were ob-
tained by fuming over the entryway mat
and placing it on a clean piece of alumi-
num foil. The back of the mat was then
beaten for several minutes before it was
removed from the foil. The loose particles
on the foil were poured into a clean
prelabeled jar. This procedure was re-
peated at least three times for each
entryway mat to collect as much sample
as possible. After all of the entryway dirt
had been collected at each home, the lid
on the sample jar was sealed with Teflon
tape, transported back to Battelle, and
stored in a -20°C freezer prior to extrac-
tion.
Besides the two houses that were used
to determine collection efficiency, the
HVS3 without a PUF filter and the backup
Cadillac blower (i.e., in its standard con-
figuration) was used to collect dust from
rugs in seven more houses. The HVS3
was operated according to the ASTM
method and the manufacturer's instruc-
tions. The cyclone was operated at its
designated air flow rate. All PAH and PCB
samples were shipped to Battelle with ice
by next day delivery. The Pb analyses
were done by Thomas M. Spittler, Region
I, EPA.
An aliquot (200 mg) of each fine portion
of house dust and foundation soil samples
was used for PAH analysis. Each aliquot
of sample was spiked with a known
amount of perdeuterated PAH and ex-
tracted by sonicating with two aliquots of
10 mL C, for 20 minutes. The extract was
6
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filtered, concentrated, and analyzed by GC/
MS for target PAH.
Another aliquot (500 mg) of the fine
portion of house dust and foundation soil
samples was used for PCB analysis. The
sample was spiked with a known amount
of 13C-labeled PCB standards and ex-
tracted twice by sonication with 10 mL of
10% ether in C6. The extract was filtered,
concentrated, and fractionated on a silica
gel column. Three eluting solvents, C6, C6/
dichloromethane (DCM) 1:1, and metha-
nol were applied to the silica gel column.
The target (CJDCM) fraction was then
analyzed by GC/MS for PCB.
Aliquots of the dust samples were ana-
lyzed for Pb by energy dispersive XRF.
Calibration of the XRF instrument for house
dust was performed by using Pb-free sand
spiked with Pb. Standard soil samples pre-
pared by the EPA's Region I Laboratory
were used to calibrate the XRF instru-
ment for soil samples.
Results
The maximum penetration of the cy-
clone by any of the PAH is 2.8% (phenan-
threne) and 1.4% (chrysene) for any of
the PAH ranked as probable human car-
cinogens (B-2) by EPA's Integrated Risk
Information System. The maximum pen-
etration by any of the PCB is 4.2%. Based
on the low percentage losses found in this
collection efficiency test, a decision was
made to conduct the remaining validation
study without the PDF filter in the system.
In summary, the amount of PAH and PCB
lost without the PDF filter was insignifi-
cant, in agreement with the results ob-
tained earlier with the pesticides (3% loss
without the PUF filter).
Among the measured target 2- to 6-ring
PAR the least abundant PAH found in the
house dust and the soil samples was
cyclopenta(c,d)pyrene. The low concen-
tration of cyclopenta(c,d)pyrene in house
dust samples is partly due to the reactivity
of this compound. We have demonstrated
in a previous study that cyclopenta(c,d)pyrene
can oxidize to pyrene dicarboxylic acid anhy-
dride. The most abundant PAH found in these
samples were fluoranthene, pyrene, and
benzofluoranthenes. The highest PAH con-
centrations in house dust samples were
found in the sample collected from House
No. 14 (HD14). In this house dust sample,
the concentration of the well known car-
cinogen, benzo(a)pyrene (BaP), was 1.7
ppm. The highest PAH concentrations in
foundation soil and entryway soil samples
were all from House No. 13. The BaP
concentration in this foundation soil and
entryway soil sample was 0.20 ppm and
1.3 ppm, respectively. In general, higher
PAH concentrations were found in the
house dust and entryway soil samples
than in the foundation soil samples. The
PAH concentrations in the entryway soil
were higher than that in the house dust
for samples collected from Houses No. 1,
2, and 13. The reverse concentration trend
was observed for Houses No. 3, 7, 10,
14, and 15. Similar PAH concentrations in
the entryway soil and house dust were
observed in House No. 9. Note that the
sum of the concentrations of the seven B-
2 PAH are approximately half of the total
concentrations of all 16 target PAH (3- to
6-ring) in all the house dust and founda-
tion soil samples.
The most abundant PCB found in house
dust samples was penta-PCB, and the
least abundant PCB was the most volatile
mono-PCB. We did not detect any nona-
PCB and deca-PCB in the house dust
samples. We would expect that significant
portions of the more volatile mono- and
di-PCB adsorbed onto house dust will
evaporate into the air and result in lower
concentrations in the house dusit. The con-
centrations of total penta-PCB ranged from
85 to 620 ppb in house dust samples,
which represent 22 to 81% of the total
PCB concentrations. Similar PCB concen-
tration profiles were observed in founda-
tion soil samples collected from all but
two houses. In these two houses, the high-
est PCB concentrations were from the to-
tal octa-PCB. The total penta-PCB con-
centrations ranged from 16 to 44 ppb in
the foundation soil samples that represent
15 to 54% of total PCB concentrations.
PCB concentrations were higher in the
house dust samples than in the founda-
tion soil samples.
The spiked PAH and PCB were quanti-
tatively recovered from both house dust
and soil samples. The average PAH re-
coveries in house dust and soil samples
from all nine houses ranged from 93 to 99
percent and from 91 to 99%, respectively.
The average recoveries for PCB were from
81 to 89% in house dust samples and
from 78 to 86% in soil samples.
The dust loading in the nine houses
ranged from 1.76 to 36.7 g/m2. More than
50% of the total dust loading is in the fine
dust (<150 urn) for all but one house
(HD14). The fine dust loading in these
houses ranged from 0.46 to 29.8 g/m2.
The house (HD7) that showed the highest
loading was occupied by college students
who claimed to clean the house monthly,
but the house was visibly filthy. The low-
est total dust loading was observed in
House No. 1 (HD1) and the lowest fine
dust loading was observed in HD14. The
highest loadings for PAH (150 ug/m2), PCB
(17 |ig/m2), and Pb (1500 jig/m2) were
found in HD7, because of the high dust
levels in this house. By the same token,
the lowest loadings for PAH (3.0 ng/m2'
and for Pb (740 |ig/m2) were found in HD1
and the lowest loading for PCB (0.31 jig/
m2) was from HD14.
Conclusions and
Recommendations
This study has shown that the HVS3
can be used without a PUF filter for quan-
titative collection of PAH and PCB
adsorbed onto house dust. Less than 3%
of the PAH and less than 5% of the PCB
were found to penetrate the cyclone and
were recovered from the PUF filter. This
finding agrees with that of a previous study
in which it was found that 97% of the
pesticides in house dust was collected in
the cyclone.
Quantitative recoveries of spiked
perdeuterated PAH and 13C-labeled PCB
were obtained from the house dust and
soil samples. The average recoveries of
spiked PAH in house dust, foundation soil,
and entryway soil samples from the nine
houses sampled ranged from 93 (perylene-
d12) to 99% (pyrene-d,0), from 94 (chrysene-
d,2) to 99% (fluorene-d ), and from 91
(fluorene-d,0) to 96% (perylene-d,12), respec-
tively. The average recoveries of spiked
PCB ranged from 81 to 89% in house
dust samples and from 78 to 87% in foun-
dation soil samples.
The concentrations of PAH and PCB in
the house dust were higher than the lev-
els in the foundation soil. The PAH con-
centrations in the entryway soil samples
were higher than that in the house dust
samples for only three houses, and simi-
lar or lower concentrations were observed
for the remaining houses. However, higher
PAH concentrations were found in the
entryway soil samples compared to the
foundation soil samples for all nine houses.
There were no known current major in-
door sources of PAH, such as smokers,
wood stoves, or gas cooking stoves, in
any of the houses sampled. The sum of
the target PAH concentrations in house
dust samples ranged from 6.1 to 26 ng/g
(ppm) and in the foundation soil samples
ranged from 1.1 to 3.7 ppm. The sum of
all target PCB concentrations in house
dust samples varied between 260 and 760
ng/g (ppb) and in the foundation soil
samples ranged from 58 to 240 ppb. Un-
like PAH and PCB, higher Pb concentra-
tions were found in the foundation soil
samples than in the house dust samples
for all but three houses. The Pb concen-
trations in the house dust and the soil
ranged from 250 to 2250 ppm and 200 to
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4000 ppm. respectively. There was no
correlation among the concentrations of
Pb, PAH, and PCB in the house dust
samples or in the foundation soil samples.
The house dust and foundation soil con-
centrations for PAH, PCB, and Pb also
showed no significant correlation with dis-
tance from a freeway.
To assess and manage exposure from
home soil and house dust, there are sev-
eral important issues that remain to be
addressed. In future studies, we recom-
mend
(1) Measuring the PAH and PCB in house
dust, foundation soil, walkway soil, and
entryway dirt in a sufficiently large,
representative sample for homes lo-
cated in older, large cities in colder
climates with a history of burning coal.
(2) Conducting a similar study in a city in
a mountain valley with a history of
wood burning.
(3) Conducting a similar study in a city
with heavy traffic.
(4) Determining if pollutant magnification
occurs in house dust for PAH and PCB.
(5) Documenting the effect of track-in and
dust control techniques on exposure
to these pollutants in house dust.
References
Menzie, C. A., B. B. Potocki, and J.
Santodonato. "Exposure to Carcino-
genic PAHs in the Environment," Envir.
Sci. and Tech., 26:1278-1284, 1992.
Camann, D. E., H. J. Harding, R. G. Lewis.
"Trapping of Particle-Associated Pesti-
cides in Indoor Air by Polyurethane
Foam and Exploration of Soil Track-In
as a Pesticide Source." In: Proceed-
ings of the 5th Conference on Indoor
Air Quality and Climate, 2:621-626,
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.,
Ottawa, Ontario, 1990.
J. C. ChuangandS. M. Gordon are with Battelle, Columbus, OH 43201, andJ. W.
Roberts, W. Han, andM. G. Ruby are with Engineering Plus, Inc., Seattle, WA
98112.
Robert G. Lewis is the EPA Project Officer (see below).
The complete report, entitled "Evaluation ofHVSS Sampler for Sampling Polycyclic
Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Polychlorinated Biphenyls," (Order No. PB95-
123931; Cost: $19.50, subject to change) will be available only from:
National Technical Information Service
5285 Port Royal Road
Springfield, VA 22161
Telephone: 703-487-4650
The EPA Project Officer can be contacted at:
Atmospheric Research and Exposure Assessment Laboratory
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
United States
Environmental Protection Agency
Center for Environmental Research Information
Cincinnati, OH 45268
Official Business
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