Thin-Film Passive Samplers for Detection of Hydrophobic Organic Contaminants and Estrogenicity in Various Environments

• US 20110070597A1
• Filed: 05/20/2010
• Published: 03/24/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/20/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: University of Connecticut (State of Connecticut)
• Original Assignee: University of Connecticut (State of Connecticut)
• Inventors: Vlahos, Penny, Harner, Tom
• Application Number:
  US12/783,840
• Publication Number:
  US 20110070597A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 435/7.8
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 1/405 by adsorption or absorption
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2033/0019 by preconcentration
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/0047 for organic compounds
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/1826 organic contamination in water

Abstract

A thin-film passive sampler for use in detecting hydrophobic organic contaminants in air or aqueous environments. The sampler features a relatively thin layer of a suitable absorbent matrix coated directly on a solid support unit made of an inert material such as titanium or glass fibers. The passive samplers are simple and cost-effective to manufacture, easy to use, and exhibit rapid equilibration times and high accuracy.

Claims

1. A rapid equilibrating passive sampler for detecting the presence of contaminants in an environment, comprising:

an inert solid support unit; and

at least one layer of an absorbent matrix coated directly on said support unit.

2. The passive sampler of claim 1, wherein said absorbent matrix is ethylene vinyl acetate.

3. The passive sampler of claim 1, wherein said solid support unit is a titanium plate.

4. The passive sampler of claim 1, wherein said solid support unit is a glass fiber filter.

5. The passive sampler of claim 1, wherein said at least one layer of absorbent matrix has a thickness of between approximately 0.5 micrometers and approximately 3.0 micrometers.

6. The passive sampler of claim 1, wherein said at least one layer of absorbent matrix has a thickness of between approximately 1.0 and 2.0 micrometers.

7. The passive sampler of claim 1, wherein said rapid equilibrating passive sampler is prepared by the process of:

providing said inert solid support unit;

preparing a solution comprising an absorbent matrix compound dissolved in a solvent;

dipping said support unit at least once into said solution to yield a solution-enveloped support unit;

removing said solution-enveloped support unit from said solution;

evaporating said solvent.

8. The passive sampler of claim 7, wherein said absorbent matrix compound is ethylene vinyl acetate and said inert solid support unit is chosen from the group consisting of a glass fiber filter and a titanium plate.

9. The passive sampler of claim 1, comprising an estradiol receptor embedded within said absorbent matrix.

10. The passive sampler of claim 1 configured for detecting contaminants in an aqueous environment via deploying therein for a predetermined duration.

11. The passive sampler of claim 10 configured for detection of contaminants that are anthropogenic and/or naturally occurring aromatic brominated compounds and/or pesticides.

12. The passive sampler of claim 1 configured for detecting contaminants in an air environment via deploying therein for a predetermined duration.

13. A method of quantitating target contaminants in an environment, comprising:

preparing a passive sampler comprising an inert solid support unit coated with a thin layer of an absorbent matrix;

calibrating said passive sampler for said target contaminants;

deploying said passive sampler in said environment for a predetermined period of time;

extracting absorbed target contaminants from said absorbent matrix; and

calculating the concentration of said absorbed target contaminants in said environment.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein said step of calibrating includes determining the partition coefficient of the sampler for each of the target contaminants.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the environment is an aqueous environment.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein said sampler is configured to detect the level of estrogenicity in said environment, comprising the additional step of embedding an estradiol receptor within said absorbent matrix.

17. The method of claim 16, comprising the additional steps of exposing said estradiol receptor to Estrogen Responsive Chemical Activated Luciferase Gene eXpression (ER-CALUX) and detecting bioluminescence of said estradiol receptor.

18. A rapid equilibrating passive sampler for detecting estrogenicity of an environment, comprising:

an inert solid support unit; and

an estrogen receptor embedded within an absorbent matrix, wherein

said matrix embedded with said estrogen receptor is coated on said solid support unit.

19. The passive sampler of claim 18, wherein the solid support unit is chosen from a group consisting of a titanium plate and a glass fiber filter.

20. The passive sampler of claim 18, wherein the estrogen receptor is an estradiol receptor.