Abstract
A method is described for the collection and determination of monoethanolamine (MEA), diethanolamine (DEA) and triethanolamine (TEA) in air. Samples were collected by pulling air through a glass tube containing alumina, cleaned especially to remove interfering inorganic ions. The ethanolamines were desorbed with water and determined by Mobile Phase Ion Chromatography (MPIC). The recovery and total relative precision for MEA, DEA and TEA – all collected from air at a flow rate of 100 mL/min for 7 hr – was 93.1±17%, 92.7±15% and 89.4±21%, respectively (95% confidence level). The method was validated for all three compounds from approximately the limit of detection (3 × noise) to ten times the limit of detection. Based on a sample size of 42 L, MEA was validated over the range from 0.12 to 3.0 ppm v/v (TLV®=3), DEA over the range from 0.25 to 3.3 ppm v/v (TLV=3) and TEA from 0.31 to 3.7 ppm v/v (no TLV assigned). No effect on recovery was observed when sampling at high humidity or on storage of the samples for up to 31 days.