Sorbisense - passive environmental sampling

The Eurofins-Sorbisense™ passive environmental sampling method is an easy-to-use and cost-effective method providing more reliable water quality testing data. This unique method enables continuous sampling over time - without the use of resources other than nature's own. The method consists of a passive sampler, Sorbicell™, in combination with a series of sampling systems adapted to different parts of the water cycle. The method can be applied in a wide range of environments such as groundwater, tile drains, drinking water pipes, surface water, and even industrial wastewater.

How does the Sorbisense™ method work?

The sampling system comprises the SorbiCell™, a small cartridge that contains an adsorbent and an environmental neutral tracer salt. While installed in the water, water passes the adsorbent that retains and accumulates specific chemical compounds. Adsorbents are selected and tailored to capture specific groups of compounds, such as pesticides, nitrate/phosphorous, PFAS compounds, or volatile organic compounds. As the water moves further through the cartridge, the trace salt is dissolved proportionally with the sample volume. The cartridge is then easily removed and sent to a laboratory for analysis. Subsequently, the Sorbicell™ is analyzed for i) the collected amount of the desired substances, and ii) the remainder of trace salt to determine the volume of water that has passed the cell during the measurement period. The average concentration during the measurement period can then be calculated from the accumulated mass and the sample volume.

Eurofins has developed a wide range of analytical laboratory methods for Sorbisense^TM, so that hundreds of relevant chemical compounds today can be measured with the method – including both organic and inorganic substances. Furthermore, we have developed different dedicated sampling units that allow the use the Sorbisense^TM method in virtually all water environments from flowing water in streams and wastewater systems to deep groundwater boreholes.

Advantages of using Sorbisense™

The method has a lot of advantages compared to traditional water sampling:

It enables time-proportional sampling over long periods of time - and is therefore more representative method compared to regular grab samples.
It does not require batteries nor access to electricity – e.g. for pump of cooling of the sampler, which is needed for automated composite water samples.
It does not disturb the measuring point – this is of significance when measuring in groundwater boreholes, where mixing of the entire water column takes place during traditional sampling with active pumping methods.
It is time-saving and very economical, as field assembly can usually be done very quickly.
It does lead to improved and cheaper sample transport due to the small size of the cartridge, and inherent conservation of the chemical compounds on the sorbent.
It can be used in some situations to lower detection limits.

The method is patented and trademarked.

You can see how Sorbisense works in these videoes:

How does Sorbisense work (animation video)