Passive Atmospheric Sampling

In order to assess regional and long-range transport of  legacy and emerging persistant organic pollutants (POPs) in air, passive samples are collected in Chacaltaya as part of both GAPS (Global Atmospheric Passive Sampling) and LAPAN (Latin American Passive Atmospheric Sampling) networks.

Passive sampling provide a time-integrated measure of concentrations in air over seasonal and annual periods.

Polyurethane foam (PUF) disks are collected every three months and XAD2 resins every year. They are analyzed in the Air Quality Processes Research Section - Environment and Climate Change (Canada) and at the Instituto de Oceanografia - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande (Brazil), respectively.

Contact person in CHC: Isabel Moreno
GAPS network on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GAPSNetworkPOPs

LAPAN XAD2 resins holder

GAPS PUF disk sampler (open)

Location of the samplers at the observatory