Ketoximes – Determination of 2-butanone oxime, acetone oxime, 4-methyl-2-pentanone oxime and 2-pentanone oxime in workplace air using gas chromatography (GC-NSD)
Air Monitoring Method
Silke Werner1 (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 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 2-butanone oxime [96-29-7], acetone oxime [127-06-0], 4-methyl-2-pentanone oxime [105-44-2] and 2-pentanone oxime [623-40-5] after personal or stationary sampling. Sampling is performed by drawing a defined volume of air through sampling tube filled with Chromosorb 106 using a suitable flow-regulated pump. After liquid desorption with methanol, the ketoximes retained on the adsorbens are analysed using gas chromatography with nitrogen-selective detection. The relative limits of quantification (LOQs) are between 0.04 and 0.05 mg ketoxime/m3 for an air sample volume of 40 l. The mean recoveries for the ketoximes were between 84 and 93%. The concentration-dependent expanded uncertainty was 17% to 23%. 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 2-butanone oxime, acetone oxime, 4-methyl-2-pentanone oxime and 2-pentanone oxime 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.
