EARTH Thailand

Evaluation of passive air sampler measurements close to the Map Ta Phut industrial estate, Thailand

Author: Alice Dvorská, Ph.D., | December 2018

Passive samplers are chemical accumulators that can be used to assess ambient concentrations in either homogeneous or heterogeneous media into which they are deployed. They are increasingly employed in investigations of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) (Shoeib and Harner, 2002). There are various PAS sampling media and designs used. In contrast to high-cost active air samplers, passive air samplers (PAS) do not require pumps, sampling heads and a source of electricity. They are inexpensive and small and therefore increasingly used for POPs monitoring and spatial studies at local, regional and continental scales (Pozo et al., 2009 and references therein). In some regions they are the only source of information on POP levels. Passive air monitoring programs measuring POPs include the Global Atmospheric Passive Sampling (GAPS) Network, the Monitoring Network (MONET) in Europe, Africa and Asia, the Latin  American Passive Atmospheric sampling Network (LAPAN) and others (Klánová and Harner, 2013).

This report was prepared and published as a part of the project “Increasing Transparency in Industrial Pollution Management through Citizen Science ” funded by the European Union (EU) and co-funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic within the Framework of the Transition Promotion Programme – a financial assistance programme supporting democracy and human rights using the Czech Republic’s experience with social transition and democratization. Production of this publication was possible also thanks to Thai Health Promotion Foundation, Government of Sweden and Global Greengrants Fund.

The Project was implemented by Arnika – Toxics and Waste Programme based in Prague, Czech Republic and Ecological Alert and Recovery - Thailand (EARTH) based in Bangkok, Thailand as part of the work of Dioxin, PCBs and Waste working group of International POPs Elimination Network (IPEN).

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