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Concept
Polar organic chemical integrative sampler
Summary
A polar organic chemical integrative sampler (POCIS) is a passive sampling device which allows for the in situ collection of a time-integrated average of hydrophilic organic contaminants developed by researchers with the United States Geological Survey in Columbia, Missouri. POCIS provides a means for estimating the toxicological significance of waterborne contaminants. The POCIS sampler mimics the respiratory exposure of organisms living in the aquatic environment and can provide an understanding of bioavailable contaminants present in the system. POCIS can be deployed in a wide range of aquatic environments and is commonly used to assist in environmental monitoring studies.
TOC
The first passive sampling devices were developed in the 1970s to determine concentrations of contaminants in the air. In 1980 this technology was first adapted for the monitoring of organic contaminants in water. The initial type of passive sampler developed for aquatic monitoring purposes was the semipermeable membrane device (SMPD). SPMD samplers are most effective at absorbing hydrophobic pollutants with an octanol-water partition coefficient (Kow) ranging from 4-8. As the global emission of bioconcentratable persistent organic pollutants (POPs) was shown to result in adverse ecological effects, industry developed a wide range of increasing water-soluble, polar hydrophilic organic compounds (HpOCs) to replace them. These compounds generally have lower bioconcentration factors. However, there is evidence that large fluxes of these HpOCs into aquatic environments may be responsible for a number of adverse effects to aquatic organisms, such as altered behavior, neurotoxicity, endocrine disruption, and impaired reproduction. In the late 1990s research was underway to develop a new passive sampler in order to monitor HpOCs with a log Kow value of less than 3. In 1999 the POCIS sampler was under development at the University of Missouri-Columbia. It gathered more support in the early 2000s as concern increased regarding the effects of pharmaceutical and personal care products in surface waters.
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