Long-term assessment of benzene concentration in air by passive sampling: a suitable approach to evaluate the risk to human health

A new model of sampling device (Analyst) based upon molecular diffusion has been tested for determination of benzene and other monoaromatics in air and used for a monitoring campaign performed in Rome in 1998-1999. Since the Analyst device provided optimum results when passive sampling were lasted from 4 to 12 weeks, its use seemed to be a very suitable way to assess the health risk for humans arising from organic pollution, because long-term sampling is likely to be coupled with high spatial resolution.