Method for the determination of 1,3‐butadiene in workplace air using headspace GC
Air Monitoring Method
Wilhelm Krämer1Thomas Helmut Brock2
Ralph Hebisch3
Andrea Hartwig4
MAK Commission5
1 BASF SE, ESE/MA – Z 570, Carl-Bosch-Straße 38, 67056 Ludwigshafen, Germany
2 German Social Accident Insurance, Institution for the raw materials and chemical industry, Prevention - Department of Hazardous Substances, Biological Agents and Analytical Chemistry, Kurfürsten-Anlage 62, 69115 Heidelberg, Germany
3 Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA), Friedrich-Henkel-Weg 1–25, 44149 Dortmund, Germany
4 Institute of Applied Biosciences, Department of Food Chemistry and Toxicology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Adenauerring 20a, Building 50.41, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
5 Permanent Senate Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Kennedyallee 40, 53175 Bonn, Germany
Abstract
This analytical method is a validated measurement procedure for the determination of 1,3‐butadiene [106‐99‐0] in workplace air averaged over the sampling period after personal or stationary sampling. Sampling is performed by drawing a defined volume of air through a charcoal tube using a suitable flow‐regulated pump. The flow rate is set to 40 mL/min with a recommended air sample volume of 20 L. The collected 1,3‐butadiene is desorbed with a mixture of benzyl alcohol/dimethyl sulfoxide/water (90+5+5 v:v) and then analysed by means of headspace‐GC and a mass selective detector (MSD). The quantitative evaluation is based on a calibration function obtained by means of a multiple‐point calibration using dichloromethane‐D2 as internal standard. Based on the resulting peak areas the respective mass of 1,3‐butadiene can be obtained from the calibration function. The absolute limit of quantification (LOQ) is 0.5 µg for 1,3‐butadiene deposited on a charcoal tube. The mean recovery was 84% and the expanded uncertainty for 1,3‐butadiene was between 21 and 23%.
Joint Publication of the Analytical Subcommittee of the Chemistry Board of Experts of the Expert Committee Raw Materials and Chemical Industry of the German Social Accident Insurance and the working group “Air Analyses” of the Permanent Senate Commission of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area.
