Determination of volatile carbonyl compounds in clean air

Simple Ozone Scrubber Using a Glass Fiber Filter Impregnated with Hydroquinone for the Quantitative Analysis of Ambient Air Samples

As a standard method for measuring the concentration of carbonyl compounds in air, 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH) derivatization followed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is widely used. However, the method is often plagued by interference issues related to the ozone content in ambient air samples. Although the use of a potassium iodide (KI) scrubber circumvents these problems, the combination of a DNPH-coated silica cartridge and KI scrubber often performs poorly, particularly in high humidity. The KI in the scrubber becomes wet under these conditions, trapping the carbonyl compounds under investigation before they can reach the DNPH cartridge; this ultimately results in inaccurate readings. In this study, a new type of ozone scrubber consisting of a glass fiber filter coated with hydroquinone (HQF) was developed. The HQF scrubber was placed in front of the DNPH-coated silica cartridge, allowing airborne carbonyl compounds to pass unimpeded through the HQF section before being trapped by the DNPH-coated silica. The subsequent reaction of the trapped carbonyls with DNPH produced carbonyl 2,4-DNPhydrazone derivative that is used as the basis for the quantitative and qualitative analyses of ambient air samples. The hydroquinone in HQF reacts with ozone to form benzoquinone with an efficiency of more than 95% under wide relative humidity range (8 - 95%). The performance of our novel HQF scrubber was compared with those of potassium iodide (KI) and our previously developed trans-1,2-bis(2-pyridyl)ethylene (BPE)-coated silica scrubbers using ambient air samples, and the results showed that both HQF-DNPH and BPE-DNPH cartridges detected carbonyl compounds in the same concentration levels. The proposed method is superior to the KI-based and BPE-based technique for ozone removal because the HQF is very small and can be easily attached to any commercially available DNPH cartridge.

Quantum cascade laser-based photoacoustic sensor for trace detection of formaldehyde gas

We report on the development of a photoacoustic sensor for the detection of formaldehyde (CH(2)O) using a thermoelectrically cooled distributed-feedback quantum cascade laser operating in pulsed mode at 5.6 μm. A resonant photoacoustic cell, equipped with four electret microphones, is excited in its first longitudinal mode at 1,380 Hz. The absorption line at 1,778.9 cm(-1) is selected for CH(2)O detection. A detection limit of 150 parts per billion in volume in nitrogen is achieved using a 10 seconds time constant and 4 mW laser power. Measurements in ambient air will require water vapour filters.

Low acetaldehyde collection efficiencies for 24-hour sampling with 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH)-coated solid sorbents

Airborne aldehyde and ketone (carbonyl) sampling methodologies based on derivatization with 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH)-coated solid sorbents could unequivocally be considered the "gold" standard. Originally developed in the late 1970s, these methods have been extensively evaluated and developed up to the present day. However, these methods have been inadequately evaluated for the long-term (i.e., 24 h or greater) sampling collection efficiency (CE) of carbonyls other than formaldehyde. The current body of literature fails to demonstrate that DNPH-coated solid sorbent sampling methods have acceptable CEs for the long-term sampling of carbonyls other than formaldehyde. Despite this, such methods are widely used to report the concentrations of multiple carbonyls from long-term sampling, assuming approximately 100% CEs. Laboratory experiments were conducted in this study to evaluate the long-term formaldehyde and acetaldehyde sampling CEs for several commonly used DNPH-coated solid sorbents. Results from sampling known concentrations of formaldehyde and acetaldehyde generated in a dynamic atmosphere generation system demonstrate that the 24-hour formaldehyde sampling CEs ranged from 83 to 133%, confirming the findings made in previous studies. However, the 24-hour acetaldehyde sampling CEs ranged from 1 to 62%. Attempts to increase the acetaldehyde CEs by adding acid to the samples post sampling were unsuccessful. These results indicate that assuming approximately 100% CEs for 24-hour acetaldehyde sampling, as commonly done with DNPH-coated solid sorbent methods, would substantially under estimate acetaldehyde concentrations.

Monoterpene emissions and carbonyl compound air concentrations during the blooming period of rape (Brassica napus)

An increasing percentage of agricultural land in Germany is used for oil seed plants. Hence, rape has become an important agricultural plant (in Saxony 1998: 12% of the farmland) in the recent years. During flowering of rape along with intensive radiation and high temperatures, a higher production and emission of biogenic VOC was observed. The emissions of terpenes were determined and more importantly, high concentrations of organic carbonyl compounds were observed during this field experiment. All measurements of interest have been carried out during two selected days with optimal weather conditions. It is found that the origin or the mechanism of formation of different group of compounds had strong influence on the day to day variation of their concentrations. The emission flux of terpenes from flowering rape plants was determined to be 16-32 microg h(-1) m(-2) (30-60 ng h(-1) per g dry plant-540-11080 ng h(-1) per plant), in total. Limonene, alpha-thujene and sabinene were the most important compounds (about 60% of total terpenes). For limonene and sabinene reference emission rates (Ms) and temperature coefficients were determined: beta(limonene) = 0.108 K(-1) and Ms = 14.57 microg h(-1) m(-2) beta(sabinene) = 0.095 K(-1) and Ms = 5.39 microg h(-1) m(-2). The detected carbonyl compound concentrations were unexpectedly high (maximum formaldehyde concentration was 18.1 ppbv and 3.4 ppbv for butyraldehyde) for an open field. Possible reasons for these concentrations are the combination of primary emission from the plants induced by high temperature and high ozone stress, the secondary formation from biogenically and advected anthropogenically emitted VOC at high radiation intensities and furthered by the low wind speeds at this time.

Determination of aldehydes and ketones in air samples using cryotrapping sampling

A cryotrapping sampling technique using glass traps cooled in liquid nitrogen for monitoring carbonyl compounds in air has been developed. Sampling was followed by derivatization by addition of acidified 2,4-dinitrophenyl hydrazine (DNPH) solution to the traps and an aliquot of the sample was analysed with a high performance liquid chromatograph system (HPLC), equipped with a diode array detector. The procedure was optimised concerning derivatization conditions and analytical parameters on formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, propanal, acetone, butanal and benzaldehyde. The technique was applied in monitoring their concentration in the urban atmosphere in Ljubljana.

Ozone removal in the sampling of parts per billion levels of terpenoid compounds: an evaluation of different scrubber materials

Some reactive volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are prone to degradation during sampling in an ozone-rich environment. A wide variety of different chemicals have been used to remove the ozone prior to sampling, but the possibility of interference by such chemicals with the sampled VOCs has not been thoroughly examined. In the present investigation, the retention/degradation of four terpenes (alpha-pinene, beta-pinene, 3-carene, and limonene) and isoprene together with some of their oxidation products (alpha-pinene oxide, nopinone, 4-acetyl-1-methylcyclohexene (AMCH), methylglyoxal, and methacrolein) has been studied, using various ozone-removing chemicals in an attempt to evaluate their potential as ozone scrubbers in the sampling of ambient air. The chemicals included in this first screening and their ozone-removing capacity are as follows: KI, MnO2, and Na2SO3 removed ozone for more than 24 h when exposed to 73-78 ppb (150-160 microg/m3) at a sampling flow rate of 500 mL/min. Silanized poly(1,4-phenylene sulfide) (PFS) removed ozone for 5 h, unsilanized PFS removed ozone for 1 h and 50 min, and Na2S2O3 removed ozone for 20 min. The recovery of the selected compounds with the different scrubbers was >95% for all compounds for KI; >95% for the terpenes oxidation products; >90% for the terpenes and isoprene for PFS; >90% for the terpenes and isoprene for MnO2 on copper nets, Na2SO3, and Na2S2O3; and <90% for the terpenes and isoprene for carulite (a commercial mixture between MnO2, CuO, and Al2O3), CuO, and indigo carmine.

Determination of carbonyl compounds in exhaust gas by using a modified DNPH-method

The determination of carbonyl compounds in gaseous samples is usually accomplished by enrichment methods, in which 2,4-dinitrophenyl-hydrazine (DNPH) as a derivatization reagent has become established to a large extent. However, the conventional methods of DNPH-impingers and of DNPH-cartridges are applicable to emission measurements in a limited way only, depending on the NO(2)-concentration in the exhaust gas. It could be proved that DNPH-derivatives, as well as DNPH, are also decomposed by NO(2) at a different speed, in which the hydrazones of unsaturated carbonyl compounds are probably more sensitive than those of the saturated carbonyl compounds. In view of this fact, the collecting methods had to be modified to avoid losses with the enrichment. The analysis of the compounds is carried out by HPLC with an effective gradient-system which is able to separate and detect the carbonyl compounds in exhaust gas within 16 min. Furthermore, a simple working-up procedure is presented which facilitates a parallel analysis by GC.