New sampling tool for airborne volatile aldehydes

Summary A new tool for airborne volatile aldehydes sampling is presented. Aldehydes such as formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, propionaldehyde and butyraldehyde can be simultaneously monitored. The tool is made of a solid, inert support of sintered glass (Siran), held in a small tube (7 cm length) and coated with 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine. Collected aldehydes are analysed as their hydrazones by high performance liquid chromatography. This method has been successfully employed to sampling of airborne formaldehyde between 0.06 ppmv and 4 ppmv (4 h sampling time). Comparison with the NIOSH method n. 2502 gave a high correlation coefficient (r=0.993).