Chloroethene. Determining in workplace air with gas chromatography – mass spectrometry

Abstract

Chloroethene (vinyl chloride) is a large volume compound, which does not occur naturally in nature. It is obtained synthetically only. About 98% of all vinyl chloride production is used to produce polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and copolymers. Exposure to this compound occurs during the synthesis and polymerization, plastification and processing of polymers and copolymers. Vinyl chloride processing takes place in industries of plastics, footwear, rubber, pharmaceutical and other. In Poland, the total number of people exposed occupationally to this compound according to the data of the Chief Sanitary Inspectorate of 2015 is over 1300 people. Exposure of people to vinyl chloride can occur by inhalation, with water and food. Workers chronically exposed to high levels of vinyl chloride suffered from disease symptoms called vinyl chloride syndrome or disease, including headache and dizziness, blurred vision, fatigue, lack of appetite, nausea, insomnia, shortness of breath, stomach pain, pain in liver/spleen area. Clinical trials include rheumatoid changes of the skin, allergic dermatitis, acroosteolysis, peripheral polineuropathy, neurological disorders, and fibrosis of a liver, enlargement of spleen and liver, disturbances of porphyrins. Vinyl chloride has mutagenic/genotoxic properties. Vinyl chloride has been classified as a carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, IARC (Group 1) and the European Union (Category 1.A). The aim of this study was to develop and validate a sensitive method for determining concentrations of vinyl chloride in workplace air the range from 1/10 to 2 MAC values. The study was performed using a gas chromatograph with mass spectrometry. The aim was to develop a method ensuring adequate determination of at least 1/10 NDS. Further considerations of the possibility of determining this substance in the air are based on previously developed analytical methods. The use of the capillary INNOVAX column enables a selective determination of vinyl chloride in the presence of toluene, acetone and other co-existing compounds. The detector's response to the analyzed chloroethene concentration was linear (r2 = 0.9972) in the concentration range 1–26 μg / ml, which corresponded to the range of 0.20–5.2 mg/m3 (0.08–2 MAC value) for the a 5-L air sample. The limit of quantification (LOQ) of this method is 0.07 μg/ml. The developed method is precise, accurate and it meets the requirements of the European Standard No. PN-EN 482+A1: 2016 for procedures regarding the determination of chemical agents. The developed method for determining vinyl chloride has been recorded as an analytical procedure (see appendix).