Determining Methylene Chloride Solvent Concentrations in Air Without Any Solvents At AllInnovative Solutions for Reducing Methylene Chloride
Oral Presentation
Prepared by K. Thaxton1, J. Stuff2
1 - GERSTEL GmbH, Eberhard-Gerstel-Platz 1, Muelheim an der Ruhr, NRW, 45473, Germany
2 - GERSTEL Inc., 701 Digital Drive Suite J, Linthicum, MD, 21090, United States
Contact Information: [email protected]; 14438334458
ABSTRACT
Methylene chloride use has been greatly restricted due to several risk factors, including vapor inhalation in the workplace. To enforce those restrictions, methylene chloride concentrations in the air must be monitored. Unfortunately OSHA and related methods draw air through a charcoal or similar cartridge and elute it with other restricted solvents, such as carbon disulfide. This approach trades exposure to one solvent for another, and is not ideal.
Fortunately the use of methylene chloride, or the use of any solvent at all, can be avoided in air analysis. Air can be drawn through thermal desorption tubes with sorbents, water can be purged off, internal or external standards can be automatically added, with the end result being fully automated methylene chloride determinations using TD-GC-MS.
The use of TD tubes is also a similar workflow to the cartridge approach, which minimizes complications in method transition. All of these steps are also solvent-free and require minimal analyst work. In this presentation we’ll review the new advances in simplifying the workflow for methylene chloride determination in indoor air, including results of a very recent real-world sampling exercise in an office environment.
