According to the European Environmental Agency (EEA) report, the effect of air pollution is the biggest environmental health risk in our country i.e. there are 120 deaths per 100.000 citizens as a result of pollution, or 2.500 a year https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/healthy-environment-healthy-lives)
Thus, our team faces a great challenge in finding a solution on how to handle this serious environmental issue. The emphasis in the second stage of this research project is on development of suitable sample collection methods using filters for passive sampling in order to optimize the time interval required for VOCs collection as well as the sample preparation methods using solvent extraction.
Extracting VOCs from filters using dichloromethane
The results showed that four weeks exposure of filters to ambient air is most suitable for detection of VOCs including some of the very hazardous ones. These compounds, such as benzene, come from anthropogenic sources.
These results have shown that we are on the right track on to the next phase where filters would be placed on various locations over different time periods in order to monitor the presence and concentration of VOCs.
