Evaluation of the particle infiltration efficiency of three passive samplers and the PS-1 active air sampler

The particle infiltration efficiencies (PIE) of three passive and one active air samplers were evaluated under field conditions. A wide-range particle spectrometer operating in the 250–4140 nm range was used to acquire highly temporally resolved particle-number and size distributions for the different samplers compared to ambient air. Overall, three of the four evaluated samplers were able to acquire a representative sample of ambient particles with PIEs of 91.5 ± 13.7% for the GAPS Network sampler, 103 ± 15.5% for the Lancaster University sampler, and 89.6 ± 13.4% for a conventional PS-1 high-volume active air sampler (Hi-Vol). Significantly (p = 0.05) lower PIE of 54 ± 8.0% was acquired for the passive sampler used under the MONET program. These findings inform the comparability and use of passive and active samplers for measuring particle-associated priority chemicals in air.