Method for the determination of epichlorohydrin in workplace air using gas chromatography after thermal desorption
Air Monitoring Method
Michael Tschickardt1Thomas Helmut Brock2
Ralph Hebisch3
Andrea Hartwig4
MAK Commission5
1 State Environmental Agency Rhineland‐Palatinate, Kaiser‐Friedrich‐Straße 7, 55118 Mainz, 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 epichlorohydrin [106‐89‐8] in workplace air averaged over the sampling period after personal or stationary sampling. Sampling is performed by drawing a defined volume of air through an adsorption tube filled with Tenax TA using a suitable flow‐regulated pump. The flow rate is set to 20 mL/min with a recommended air sample volume of 1.2 L (which corresponds to a sampling period of 60 min). After thermal desorption at 280 °C the sample is analysed by means of GC with a flame ionisation detector (FID). The quantitative determination is based on a calibration function obtained by means of a multiple‐point calibration. The relative limit of quantification (LOQ) is 0.39 mg/m3 epichlorohydrin for an air sample volume of 1.2 L. The mean recovery was 95% and the expanded uncertainty for epichlorohydrin was 16.1% over the entire measurement range.
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.
