Abstract
An automated gas chromatographic system was developed to analyze the ethylene oxide vapor:air concentrations in whole-body exposure inhalation chambers for a two-year rodent toxicity study. The system was comprised of a Perkin Elmer automated sampling system and 3920B gas chromatograph, a Spectra Physics 4000 Integrator, a Perkin Elmer 023 Analog Recorder and a Hewlett Packard 2645A Data Terminal. At timed intervals, the sampler automatically injected a sample into the chromatograph and then advanced to the next sampling point. The integrator was programmed to calculate and print the results of each integration and then transmit data to the terminal. At the terminal the results were recorded on magnetic tapes and printed. Data on the tapes were transferred to a DEC PDP-11 computer for tabulation and statistical analysis. The target concentrations for the two-year ethylene oxide toxicity study were 100,33, and 10 ppm. The calculated means of the daily mean concentrations over the two-year period were within ±2% of the target concentrations. All of the daily means for this study and the statistical analyses can be listed by this system within 7 minutes.