Comparison of Stripping Coil and Condensate Techniques for the Collection of Gas-Phase Hydrogen Peroxide, with Applications of Condensate Collection in and off the Coast of North Carolina

Abstract

Hydrogen peroxide concentrations obtained by a commonly used stripping coil method were compared with data obtained by the method of collection and analysis of atmospheric condensate. Good agreement was achieved between gas-phase hydrogen peroxide concentrations obtained by each method over the concentration range from 0.1 to 1.8 ppb; the average deviation between the analytical results and the mean of those results was 10%. The deviations between concentrations obtained by each method were random, suggesting no systematic differences. Because of this analytical agreement and the versatility of the condensate collection technique, this method was employed in several field applications. Gas-phase hydrogen peroxide concentrations were determined from condensate samples collected during the summers of 1994 and 1995 in and near Wilmington, NC. Concentrations were not statistically different (t-test, p < 0.05) in samples collected at the Wilmington reference site relative to a nearby salt marsh. Gas-phase hydrogen peroxide concentrations were lower at an automobile traffic-impacted site relative to this reference site. Midday net production rates at sea over the Gulf Stream and Sargasso Sea (110 + 55 ppt/h) were one-quarter of those on land (440 + 230 ppt/h) during comparable times, in agreement with prior stripping coil results.