Authors
Smith ME; Westbrook E; Stastny AL; Streicher RP; Elliott MG
Source
Int J Environ Anal Chem 2022 Sep; :[Epub ahead of print]
Abstract
Determining worker exposure to hazardous volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in air at levels exceeding the Permissible Exposure Limits and Recommended Exposure Limits established by the U.S. federal agencies of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), respectively, will continue to be an important part of environmental and occupational health risk assessments. The purpose of this work was to develop a reliable analytical method for rapid and on-site assessments of occupational VOC exposures using field-capable thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (TD-GC-MS) instrumentation (i.e. the HAPSITE® ER). The experiments involved in this study included determining TD-GC-MS parameters suitable for efficient analyte separation and quantitation on the HAPSITE® ER, determinations of analyte mass loadings that cause mass spectrometer detector saturations, generation of calibration curves, estimations of the limits of detection (LODs) and quantification (LOQs), as well as desorption efficiency and relative response factor repeatability. The LODs using Carbopack(TM) B and Tenax® TA sampling media were estimated and ranged from 0.2-1.9 ng and 0.045-0.3 ng, respectively. The LOQs using Carbopack(TM) B and Tenax® TA sampling media were estimated and ranged from 1.0-6.3 ng and 0.2-1.1 ng, respectively. We have developed a reliable analytical method for chloroform, benzene, trichloroethylene, and heptane using field-portable HAPSITE® ER instrumentation and Tenax® TA sorbent media. Reliable and accurate methods were developed for chloroform and trichloroethylene using Carbopack (TM) B sorbent media, however, this particular sorbent hadlow desorption efficiency and insufficient repeatability in relative response factors for many analytes. Our current and ongoing work in determining the uptake rates for analytes on Tenax® TA sorbent media will make the methods described herein applicable for on-site occupational VOC exposure assessments of chloroform, benzene, trichloroethylene, and heptane using either passive or active air sampling techniques.
Keywords
Volatile organic compounds; VOCs; Occupational exposure; Sampling; Risk assessment; PELs; Permissible Exposure Limits
Contact
Angela L. Stastny, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, OH, USA
Document Type
Journal Article
Email Address
opf2@cdc.gov
Source Name
International Journal of Environmental Analytical Chemistry
