Arsenic – Determination of arsenic and its particulate compounds in workplace air using atomic absorption spectrometry (GF-AAS)
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 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 arsenic [7440-38-2] and its particulate compounds e.g. arsenic trioxide [1327-53-3] and arsenic triiodide [7784-45-4] 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 arsenic retained on the filter is analysed using graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GF-AAS). The relative limit of quantification (LOQ) is 0.11 µg As/m3 for an air sample volume of 1.2 m3. The mean recovery for arsenic was 100%. The concentration-dependent expanded uncertainty was 15% to 33%. 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.
