1999 Volume 45 Issue 2 Pages 105-110
The easy and quick determination method of aldehydes as hazardous air pollutants in indoor air by use of a passive tube packed with silica gel coated with O-(2, 3, 4, 5, 6-pentafluorobenzyl) hydroxylamine (PFBOA) was investigated. The analytical procedure consists of the following 3 steps : concentration and derivatization of aldehydes in sample air by the passive tube, desorption of PFBOA-derivatives of aldehydes from an adsorbent with cyclohexane and determination of PFBOA-derivatives of aldehydes by GC-MS analysis. The diffusive uptake rates of aldehydes were calculated using the obtained data from both active and passive tube methods applied to some newly-built ferroconcrete uninhabited houses and single family houses. The rates of formaldehyde and acetaldehyde were 1.983±0.254ml/min (n=25, R.S.D. 12.8%) and 1.690±0.373ml/min (n=24, R.S.D. 22.0%), respectively. The detection limit of formaldehyde in indoor air by the passive tube method was 0.0156mg/m3 for 24h air sampling, and that of acetaldehyde was 0.0382mg/m3. The PFBOA passive tube method was applied to the determination of aldehydes in newly-built ferroconcrete uninhabited houses, and sufficient results were obtained.
