Adsorbent Transfer for Passive Sampling Badge

A method of sampling contaminants in a gas comprising (a) placing the open end of a vial containing a known amount of particulate adsorbent on a vial adaptor of a passive air sampler, (b) by gravity, transferring said particulate adsorbent from said vial to the container of said passive air sampler, (c) exposing the particulate adsorbent in the passive air sampler to said gas while said particulate adsorbent is in said passive air sampler, whereby contaminants in said gas are adsorbed by said particulate adsorbent, (d) placing the open end of an empty vial on said vial adaptor, (e) by gravity, draining said particulate adsorbent from said container of said passive air sampler to said vial, and (f) transferring said particulate adsorbent from said vial to a desorption tube for chromatographic or other analysis of said contaminants.

A device for transferring particulate adsorbent from a vial to a passive air sampler, comprising (a) a passive air sampler including a vial adaptor having threads for receiving a threaded vial, and (b) a vial including particulate adsorbent therein, said vial having been opened and attached to said vial adaptor by vial threads complementary to said adaptor threads for transferring said particulate adsorbent from said vial to said passive air sampler.

Method of obtaining and analyzing samples of contaminants in air in a workplace comprising (a) transferring a known amount of absorbent from a vial to a passive air sampler badge through an opening in said air sampler badge (b) sealing said opening (c) attaching said air sampler badge to a person's clothing for wearing through a measured period of time in said workplace (d) removing said air sampler badge from said clothing (e) unsealing said opening and draining said adsorbent into a vial (f) closing said vial (g) transferring said adsorbent from said vial into a desorption tube for analysis of desorbed contaminants (h) desorbing said contaminants for analysis, (i) transferring the desorbed adsorbent from said desorption tube to a vial and capping said vial (j) reusing said adsorbent by repeating steps (a) to (i).