Determination of Aldehydes in Indoor Air by Passive Tube with Silica Gel Coated with O-(2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorobenzyl)hydroxylamine [in Japanese]

Yasuaki Mori,^a Setsuko Setsuda,^a Sumio Goto,^b Sukeo Onodera,^c Satoshi Nakai,^d and Hidetsuru Matsushita^e

^aKanagawa Prefectural Public Health Laboratory, 1-1-1 Nakao, Asahi-ku, Yokohama 241-0815, Japan, ^bNational Institute of Public Health, 4-6-1 Shirokanedai, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-0071, Japan, ^cTokyo University of Science, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 12 Ichigaya Funagawaramachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-0826, Japan, ^dInstitute of Environmental Science and Technology, Yokohama National University, 79-7 Tokiwadai, Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama 240-0067, Japan and ^eShizuoka Institute of Environment and Hygiene, 4-27-2 Kita-Ando, Shizuoka 420-0881, Japan

The easy and quick determination method of aldehydes as hazardous air pollutants in indoor air by use of a passive tube packed with silica gel coated with O-(2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorobenzyl)hydroxylamine (PFBOA) was investigated. The analytical procedure consists of the following 3 steps : concentration and derivatization of aldehydes in sample air by the passive tube, desorption of PFBOA-derivatives of aldehydes from an adsorbent with cyclohexane and determination of PFBOA-derivatives of aldehydes by GC-MS analysis. The diffusive uptake rates of aldehydes were calculated using the obtained data from both active and passive tube methods applied to some newly-built ferroconcrete uninhabited houses and single family houses. The rates of formaldehyde and acetaldehyde were 1.983±0.254 ml/min (n=25, R.S.D. 12.8%) and 1.690±0.373 ml/min (n=24, R.S.D. 22.0%), respectively. The detection limit of formaldehyde in indoor air by the passive tube method was 0.0156 mg/m³ for 24 h air sampling, and that of acetaldehyde was 0.0382 mg/m³. The PFBOA passive tube method was applied to the determination of aldehydes in newly-built ferroconcrete uninhabited houses, and sufficient results were obtained.