Methods for measuring mass concentrations of xylene isomers in ambient air (literature review)

Ambient air is the most important life-support component of the ecosystem, so its pollution is a powerful and permanent factor influencing on both humans and the environment. Volatile organic aromatic compounds are the main group of pollutants that affect human health. For effective analytical control of the environmental quality, highly sensitive and selective methods for determining xylenes in ambient air are necessary.

The aim of this study. To examine the results of theoretical and experimental research, methods and procedures for measuring mass concentrations of xylene isomers in ambient air.

The review focuses on data available in scientific literature published in the abstract databases of Web of Science, Pubmed, Scopus, and Elibrary, devoted to studying the content of xylenes in ambient air.

A review of Russian and foreign scientific literature on physicochemical methods for controlling determination of xylenes in air has revealed organic compounds to be determined using chromato-mass-spectrometry with thermal desorption involved in the sampling stage.

Conclusion. This analysis of scientific and methodological literature has shown sorption concentration on solid sorbents (porous polymer sorbents) to be the most widely used sampling method to determine the content of xylenes in ambient air. The optimal way to extract xylenes from a sorbent is thermal desorption of the selected sample directly into the column of gas chromatograph and subsequent gas chromatographic analysis.

Contribution:
Nurislamova T.V. — study concept and design, editing the text;
Popova N.A. — study concept and design, editing the text;
Maltseva O.A. — study concept and design, editing the text;
Kolmogortseva D.Yu. — literature data collection and analysis, writing the text.
All authors are responsible for the integrity of all parts of the manuscript and approval of its final version.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Funding. The study had no sponsorship.

Received: June 10, 2025 / Revised: August 8, 2025 / Accepted: September 25, 2025 / Published: October 20, 2025

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