Determination of Pesticides in Indoor Air and Dust

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Abstract
Improved analytical and sampling methods were developed for the multiresidue determination of pesticides in indoor air. Air analysis consists of adsorption of the pesticides in 1 m3 of air onto Tenax TA via an air sampling pump, desorption with acetone, and determination and quantitation by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) with chemical ionization on an ion trap mass spectrometer. Limits of detection for the 23 pesticides studied ranged from 0.5 ng/m3 for chlorpyrifos and diazinon to 30 ng/m3 for o-phenylphenol (approximately 0.5-30 parts per trillion on a w/w basis). A simple method for the detection of pesticides in dust was also developed. This method involves emptying the contents of a vacuum cleaner bag into a standard household food processor and extracting 1 g homogenized dust with acetone before GC/MS. Limits of detection were 25-100 ppb because of interferences by common household chemicals. However, pesticide concentrations were higher in dust than in air, therefore, analysis of dust is a better indicator of indoor pesticide exposure.

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