Carcinogenic metals – Determination of arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, cobalt, nickel and their particulate compounds in workplace air using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS)
Air Monitoring Method
Katrin Pitzke1 (Method development)Thomas Helmut Brock2 (Head of the working group “Analytics”)
Ralph Hebisch3 (Head of the working group “Air Analyses” of the Permanent Senate Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft)
Andrea Hartwig4 (Chair of the Permanent Senate Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft)
MAK Commission5
1 Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (IFA) of the German Social Accident Insurance (DGUV), Alte Heerstraße 111, 53757 Sankt Augustin, 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 Institut für Angewandte Biowissenschaften, Abteilung Lebensmittelchemie und Toxikologie, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (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 arsenic [7440-38-2], beryllium [7440-41-7], cadmium [7440-43-9], cobalt [7440-48-4], nickel [7440-02-0] and their particulate compounds after personal or stationary sampling. Sampling is performed by drawing a defined volume of air through a nitrocellulose membrane filter using a suitable flow-regulated pump. After acid digestion, the elements retained on the filter are analysed using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The relative limits of quantification are between 0.00029 µg/m3 for beryllium and 0.11 µg/m3 for nickel for an air sample volume of 1.2 m3. The mean recovery was between 97% for arsenic and 111% for beryllium. The concentration-dependent expanded uncertainty was 21% to 28%. This analytical method has been accredited by the accident insurance companies for the detection in workplace air of substances that are carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction. This method has been tested and recommended for the determination of arsenic in work areas by the German Social Accident Insurance (DGUV). Both personal and stationary sampling can be performed for measurements in order to evaluate work areas.
