1,2-Dimethoxyethane Determination in working air with gas chromatography-mass spectrometer

Abstract

Under normal conditions, 1,2-dimethoxyethane (DME) is a colorless and transparent liquid with a faint odor of ether, very soluble in water, charac-terized by a high vapor pressure. It belongs to the group of alkyl ethers solvents, derivatives of eth-ylene glycol. 1,2-Dimethoxyethane is used as an ex-cipient in preparing and processing industrial chemicals, in the production of fluoric polymers and as a solvent and cleaning agent in the microe-lectronics and printing industries. In the literature there are no data on the acute and chronic toxicity of 1,2-dimethoxyethane. However, long-term epidemiological studies on compounds of similar chemical structure suggest that human exposure to ethylene glycol alkyl ethers can ad-versely affect fertility and fetal development, and hematological parameters. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a sensitive method for determining concentrations of 1,2-dimethoxyethane in workplace air in the range from 1/20 to 2 MAC values, in accordance with the requirements of Standard No. PN-EN 482+A1: 2016-1. The study was performed using a gas chromato-graph (GC). A 7890B Agilent Technologies gas chromatograph with a 5977A mass spectrometry detector (MSD), HP PONA (50 m; 0,2 mm; 0,5 μm) capillary analytical column, auto sampler and Mass Hunter software was used for chromato-graphic separations. The method is based on the adsorption of 1,2-di-methoxyethane on charcoal, desorption with di-chloromethane and GC/MSD analysis of the re-sulting solution. Extraction efficiency of 1,2-di-methoxyethane from charcoal was 96.4%. Samples of 1,2-dimethoxyethane can be stored in refrigera-tor for up to 28 days. The use of a HP-PONA capil-lary column enabled selective determination of 1,2-dimethoxyethane in a mixture of dichloromethane, toluene, carbon disulfide, ethylene and propylene glycol and other compounds. The method is linear (r = 0.9999) within the inves-tigated working range from 5 to 200 μg/ml, which is equivalent to air concentrations from 0.5 to 20 mg/m3 for a 10-L air sample. The limit of quan-tification (LOQ) is 1,306 μg/ml. The analytical method described in this paper ena-bles selective determination of 1,2-dimethoxye-thane in workplace atmosphere in presence of other compounds at concentrations from 0.5 to 20 mg/m3 (1/20 ÷ 2 MAC value). The method is precise, accurate and it meets the criteria for proce-dures for measuring chemical agents listed in Standard No. PN-EN 482+A1: 2016-1. The method can be used for assessing occupational exposure to 1,2-dimethoxyethane and associated risk to work-ers’ health. The developed method of determining 1,2-di-methoxyethane has been recorded as an analytical procedure (see Appendix).