Beryllium – Determination of beryllium and its inorganic compounds in workplace air using atomic absorption spectrometry (GF-AAS)
Air Monitoring Method
Katrin Pitzke1 (Method development)Uta Lewin-Kretzschmar2 (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 of the DGUV (IFA), 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 the respirable particle fraction of beryllium [7440-41-7] and its inorganic compounds in workplace air 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, beryllium and its inorganic compounds retained on the filter are analysed using graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. The relative limit of quantification (LOQ) is 0.0013 µg Be/m3 for an air sample volume of 1.2 m3. The mean recoveries for beryllium metal and for beryllium from beryllium oxide are 100.1% and 97.1%, respectively. The concentration-dependent expanded measurement uncertainty is 17% to 19% for the respirable und 14% to 16% for the inhalable particle fraction. This analytical method has been accredited by the accident insurance companies for the detection of substances in workplace air that are carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction. This method has been tested and recommended for the determination of beryllium and its inorganic compounds in work areas by the German Social Accident Insurance (DGUV).
