Method for the determination of cadmium and its inorganic compounds in workplace air using ICP mass spectrometry
Air Monitoring Method
Kurt Timm1 (Methodenentwicklung)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 German Social Accident Insurance Institution for the raw materials and chemical industry, Prevention - Department of Hazardous Substances, Biological Agents and Analytical Chemistry, Laboratory Leuna, Rudolf‐Breitscheid‐Straße 18, Building E, 06237 Leuna, 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 procedure is a validated measurement method for the determination of cadmium and its inorganic compounds 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 membrane filter located in the sampling head (GSP and FSP) of the sampling device using a suitable flow‐regulated pump. The flow rate is set to 10 L/min with a recommended air sample volume of 1200 L. The collected cadmium is prepared by unpressurised acid digestion and analysed by means of mass spectrometry with inductively coupled plasma (ICP‐MS). The quantitative determination is based on a calibration function obtained by means of an equidistant 10‐point calibration. The absolute limit of quantification (LOQ) is 0.1 µg/L and the relative LOQ is 0.007 µg/m3 based on an air sample volume of approx. 1.2 m3. The mean recovery is 102% and the expanded uncertainty for cadmium in inhalable dusts is approx. 19% and approx. 26% in respirable dusts.
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.
