Acrylonitrile – Determination of acrylonitrile in workplace air using gas chromatography (GC-MS)
Air Monitoring Method
Michael Tschickardt1 (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 State Environmental Agency Rhineland-Palatinate, Rheinallee 97-101, 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 acrylonitrile [107-13-1] after personal or stationary sampling. Sampling is performed by drawing a defined volume of air through an adsorption tube made of stainless steel packed with Chromosorb 106 using a suitable flow-regulated pump. After thermal desorption, the acrylonitrile retained on the adsorbent is analysed using gas chromatography with flame ionisation detection and mass spectrometry. The relative limit of quantification (LOQ) is 0.0042 mg acrylonitrile/m3 for an air sample volume of 2.4 l. The mean recovery for acrylonitrile was 104%. The concentration-dependent expanded uncertainty was 26.0% to 26.6%. 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 acrylonitrile 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.
