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Ambient air / Outdoor air

Why perform ambient air measurements?

Ambient air quality is an important issue for human health and the environment.
Regulations exist at European and national level to monitor, assess and prevent air pollution and its harmful effects.

At European level, the main directives governing ambient air quality are:

  • Directive 2008/50/EC of May 21, 2008 on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe.
    This directive sets limit values, target values and alert thresholds for various atmospheric pollutants, such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, fine particles, ozone, benzene and lead.
    It also requires member states to put in place air quality plans and short-term measures in the event of thresholds being exceeded.
  • Directive 2004/107/EC of December 15, 2004 relating to arsenic, cadmium, mercury, nickel and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in ambient air.
    This directive sets target values for these pollutants, which are considered to be carcinogenic substances.
    It also obliges member states to assess the concentration of these pollutants in ambient air and to reduce their exposure.

At national level, French regulations specify the implementation of European directives, or even supplement them.
National air quality criteria are defined in :

  • The Environment Code (articles R221-1 to R221-3), which transposes European directives and sets limit values, target values, alert thresholds and quality objectives for atmospheric pollutants.
    It also lays down the procedures for monitoring air quality, informing the public and managing pollution episodes.
  • The decree of October 21, 2010, which amends the Environment Code and introduces stricter limit values for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and ozone, in line with Directive 2008/50/EC.
  • The Order of April 16, 2021 on the national ambient air quality monitoring system, which sets out the missions of the players in the national air quality monitoring system and the applicable technical requirements.

  Some examples of ambient air measurement applications are listed below:

    • Monitoring emissions from road traffic
    • Measurements downstream of industrial accidents
    • Olfactory disorders, characterization of odorous compounds
    • Site surveillance
    • Impact on the environment and local residents
    • Quantitative assessment of health hazards (EQRS)

What compounds are measured in Ambient Air?

TERA Environnement offers analysis of a wide range of chemical contaminants.

TERA Environnement can analyze over 500 VOCs, including

  • Aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons
  • TPH (Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons) fractions from C5 to C16
  • Oxygenates including methanol, phenol and cresols :

Methanol; Ethanol; Tert-butanol; 1-Butanol; 1-Propanol; 2-Butanol (Sec-Butanol); 2-Propanol (IPA); Isobutanol; Phenol; o-Cresol; m-Cresol; p-Cresol etc.

  • Volatile Organic Halogenated Compounds or Halogenated VOCs :

Vinyl chloride monomer (VCM); Dibromomethane; Trichloromethane (Chloroform); Tetrachloromethane (CCl4); 1,2-Dichloroethane (1,2-DCE); 1,1-Dichloroethylene; Cis 1,2 Dichloroethylene; 1,1,1 Trichloroethane ; Trichloroethylene; Tetrachloroethylene (Perchloroethylene); 1,2-Dichloropropane; Trans 1,3 Dichloropropene; Cis 1,3 Dichloropropene; Trans 1,2 Dichloroethylene; 1,1,2-Trichloroethane; 1,1 Dichloroethane; Chloroethane

  • Mercaptans and sulfur compounds :

Tert-Butylthiol; Methanethiol; Ethanethiol; 1-Propanethiol; 2-Propanethiol; 1-Butanethiol; 2-Butanethiol; Dimethyl sulfide (DMS); Carbon Disulfide (CS2); Dimethyl Disulfide (DMDS); Dimethyl Trisulfide (DMTS)

  • Acid gases :

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S); Ammonia (NH3); Hydrochloric acid (HCl); Hydrofluoric acid (HF); Total cyanides; Sulfur dioxide (SO2); Nitrogen dioxide (NO2); Nitrogen monoxide (NO) etc.

  • Amines :

Allylamine; Diethylamine; Dimethylamine; Dipropylamine; Ethanolamine (2-aminoethanol); Ethylamine; Methylamine; N-Butylamine; Triethylamine; Trimethylamine

  • Formaldehyde; Acetaldehyde; Acrolein; Propanal; Butanal; Benzaldehyde; Isopentanal; Pentanal; Hexanal; 2-Butenal; Acetone
  • PM 10 PM 2.5
  • Aluminum (Al); Antimony (Sb); Silver (Ag); Arsenic (As); Barium (Ba); Beryllium (Be); Boron (B); Cadmium (Cd); Cerium (Ce); Cesium (Cs); Chromium (Cr); Cobalt (Co); Copper (Cu); Dysprosium (Dy) ; Erbium (Er); Tin (Sn); Europium (Eu); Iron (Fe); Gadolinium (Gd); Gallium (Ga); Germanium (Ge); Hafnium (Hf); Holmium (Ho); Lanthanum (La); Lithium (Li); Lutetium (Lu); Manganese (Mn); Mercury (Hg) particulate gaseous; Molybdenum (Mo); Neodymium (Nd); Nickel (Ni); Niobium (Nb); Gold (Au); Palladium (Pd); Phosphorus (P); Platinum (Pt); Lead (Pb); Praseodymium (Pr); Rhenium (Re); Rhodium (Rh); Rubidium (Rb); Ruthenium (Ru); Samarium (Sm); Scandium (Sc); Selenium (Se); Silicon (Si); Strontium (Sr); Tantalum (Ta); Tellurium (Te); Terbium (Tb); Thallium (Tl); Thulium (Tm); Titanium (Ti); Uranium (U); Vanadium (V); Ytterbium (Yb); Yttrium (Y); Zinc (Zn); Zirconium (Zr)
  • Naphthalene; Acenaphthene; Fluorene; Phenanthrene; Anthracene; Fluoranthene; Pyrene; Benzo(a)Anthracene; Chrysene; Benzo(b+j)Fluoranthene; Benzo(k)Fluoranthene; Benzo(a)Pyrene (BaP); DiBenzo(a,h)Anthracene; Benzo(g,h,i)Perylene; Indeno(1,2,3,c,d)pyrene; Acenaphthylene
  • Quartz; Tridymite; Cristobalite

What sampling equipment is available for your ambient air measurements?

TERA Environnement can supply and/or rent the sampling media and equipment needed for the analyses you require.

Sampling media and equipment
Monitoring stations
  • Radiello® (code 130; code 132; code 141; code 145; code 147; code 165; code 166; code 168; code 169; code 170; code 172)
  • Ogawa for NOx
  • Owen gauges
  • SKC passive badges for gaseous mercury
  • DIEM deposition plates

Passive samplers are used for on-site exposure between 8 hours and 7 days, and do not require the use of sampling pumps.

  • Quartz and PVC filters
  • Impregnated filters
  • DNPH cartridges
  • Charcoal sorbent tubes, silica gel sorbent tubes
  • Thermodesorption tubes
  • Bubblers and bubbling solutions
  • Canisters

Active samplers are used in conjunction with sampling pumps, and are designed for measurements lasting from a few hours to a day.

  • Pumps
  • Cyclones for respirable fraction
  • Veriflow for canister sampling
Samplers and equipment
Monitoring stations

Which parameters are available under COFRAC accreditation?

TERA Environnement is COFRAC accredited in Ambient Air for VOCs, aldehydes, acids, total dust and metals.

Consult our scopes of accreditation: Accréditation Cofrac Essais 1-5598 et 1-5599, list of sites and scopes available on www.cofrac.fr/en

Scope of our Crolles laboratory: 1-5598 Fuveau laboratory: 1-5599 Scope of our Fuveau laboratory: 1-5599

  • VOCs: Benzene; Toluene; Ethylbenzene; o-Xylene; (m+p) Xylene (BTEX) and 1,2-Dichloroethane (1,2-DCE) on passive sampler Radiello code 145
  • 1,3-Butadiene on canister and thermodesorption tube
  • Aldehydes (Acetaldehyde; Hexanal; Formaldehyde; Propanal; Pentanal (Valeraldehyde); Acrolein (2-Propenal); Benzaldehyde) on passive sampler Radiello code 165
  • Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and hydrofluoric acid (HF) on passive sampler Radiello code 166
  • Ammonia (NH3) on passive sampler Radiello code 168
  • Hydrochloric acid (HCl) on passive sampler Radiello code 169
  • Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) on passive sampler Radiello code 170
  • Nitrogen Monoxide (NO) and Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) on Ogawa passive sampler
  • Total dust on Owen gauge
  • Metals (Antimony (Sb); Arsenic (As); Cadmium (Cd); Cobalt (Co); Copper (Cu); Manganese (Mn); Nickel (Ni); Lead (Pb); Vanadium (V)) on 47 mm quartz filter
  • Gaseous mercury (Hg) on passive badge and active tube
Accreditations and certifications

Quantitative assessment of sanitary risks (EQRS)

EQRS is a method for estimating the health risks to which a population exposed to a particular type of pollution of industrial or natural origin is exposed.
It is based on the use of scientific facts to define the health effects of exposure to hazardous environmental agents.
It involves four stages: hazard identification, toxicity assessment, exposure assessment and risk calculation.

TERA Environnement has the sampling and analysis tools to measure a wide range of atmospheric chemical contaminants.

Our limits of quantification (LOQ) are lower than the toxicological reference values used for Quantitative assessment of sanitary risks.

For example, our LOQ for mercury and 1,3-butadiene are as follow:

  • Mercury: LOQ = 5 ng/sampler (passive badge)
  • 1,3-butadiene: LQ= 5.6 ng/sampler (thermodesorption tube) and 0.14 ng/sampler (6L canister)

TERA Environnement has extensive experience in the field of ambient air analysis.
We also offer 31 accredited ambient air parameters!

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