No abstract

Air pollutants emitted while processing phenol-formaldehyde resins have been investigated. Gas chromatography-mass-selective detection was used to separate and identify chemical compounds. It was determined that workers were exposed to formaldehyde in all workplaces. Besides, phenol, acetaldehyde, acrylaldehyde, 2-furaldehyde, xylene, ethylbenzene, toluene, tetrachlorethene, ethyl acetate, butyl acetate were found during the production of frictional materials; and 2-furaldehyde, phenol, naphthalene, 2-furanmethanol, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) during the production of abrasive materials. Quantitative analyses were performed with gas chromatography and high performance liquid chromatography. Assessment of occupational exposure indicated that chemical compounds emitted during the investigated processes might be dangerous for human health, mainly because of suspected carcinogenic compounds: formaldehyde and PAHs.

& The method of determination of 4-biphenylamine (4-BA) in workplace air using SPE and HPLC has been presented. The method consists in passing the air that contains 4-BA through a glass fiber filter with sulfuric acid placed on it, washing out the substance settled on the filter, using water and a solution of sodium hydroxide, solid phase extraction (SPE) in order to enrich the analyte, replace the dissolvent with methanol, and analyze the obtained solution using a method of highly efficient liquid chromatography with fluorescent detection (k ex ¼ 268 nm, k em ¼ 389 nm). Measuring range for the 100 dm 3 air sample was: 0.1-2 lg=m 3 . Limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were 0.18 ng=m 3 and 0.54 ng=m 3 , respectively.

A new procedure has been developed for the assay of 2,2'-dichloro-4,4'-methylenedianiline (MOCA) using high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detector. MOCA was sampled from workplace air and derivative before determination using 3,5-dinitrobenzoyl chloride. The determination was carried out in the reverse-phase system (mobile phase: acetonitrile: water) using an Ultra C(18) column. The measurement range was 2-40 µg/m(3) for a 100 dm(3) air sample. Limit of detection: 7.9 ng/m(3) and limit of quantification: 23.8 ng/m(3).