Application of XAD-2 resin-based passive samplers and SPME-GC-MS/MS analysis for the monitoring of spatial and temporal variations of atmospheric pesticides in Luxembourg.

Passive air sampling has been shown to be a very interesting alternative to high-volume sampling by overcoming its disadvantages (size, weight, expensiveness). However, to date, only limited data is available about passive air sampling of current-use pesticides. In order to test if passive samplers allow monitoring of spatial and temporal variations of atmospheric pesticide concentrations, five XAD-2-resin based passive air samplers were deployed at five locations in Luxembourg. Samplers were analyzed using accelerated solvent extraction coupled to solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry. Collected data was used to study the spatial and temporal variations of the concentrations of the compounds.