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.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has been heavily involved in the development of passive samplers and has articles in their database regarding the development of POCIS as early as 2000. The USGS Columbia Environmental Research Center (CERC) is a self-proclaimed international leader in the field of passive sampling. There have been recent efforts by the USGS to connect people who have an interest in passive sampling. An international workshop and symposium on passive sampling was held by the USGS in 2013 to connect developers, policy makers and end users in order to discuss ways of monitoring environmental pollution.