Abstract
A method for determination of 2, 4-dinitrotoluene (2, 4-DNT) and 2, 6-dinitrotoluene (2, 6-DNT) in ambient air was developed. Ambient air sample was adsorbed and collected into a tube packed with an adsorbent Tenax TA. The target compounds were determined and analyzed by thermal desorption-GC /MS. The total collected volume of each sample was found to be about 300l by studying the breakthrough volumes of each of these compounds. The yields were 112% for 2, 4-DNT (coefficient of variation: 11%) and 103% for 2, 6-DNT (coefficient of variation: 6.2%) . The instrument detection limits (IDLs) were l.0ng/m3for 2, 4-DNT and 0.9ng/m3for 2, 6-DNT calculated as the sample concentration when collected according to the present method. As a result of the determination of ambient air concentration, 2, 6-DNT was detected at 24ng/m3. It was possible to quantify 2, 4-DNT and 2, 6-DNT in ambient air on the ng/m3levels according to this method.
