Air sampling and determination of airborne phenetole in the workplace: a regulatory method development and validation for establishing an exposure guideline in Ontario

Abstract

A regulatory method was developed and validated for establishing an exposure guideline for monitoring phenetole at workplaces in Ontario. Phenetole vapours were sampled into a charcoal tube and then desorbed into carbon disulfide for gas chromatography (GC) analysis. By spiking the phenetole solution into charcoal tubes, it was found that the recoveries for up to 100 µg (equivalent to 5 times the suggested exposure limit in a 2 dm3 sample) levels were excellent after the tubes were aerated for 1 h at an aeration rate of 0.2 dm3 min–1. For validation of the method, the vapour pressure of phenetole was established experimentally in order to assess the efficiency of simulated air sampling using a test atmosphere generation system. Recoveries of phenetole vapours at the approximate levels of 0.3, 0.7, and 1.5 times the suggested exposure limit (10 mg m–3) were all over 90%. Phenetole in simulated air samples was identified using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) in the electron impact (EI) scan mode.