Determination of methyl bromide in air samples by headspace gas chromatography

Journal Article · Tue Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 1988 · Anal. Chem.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/ac00156a029· OSTI ID:7256629

Woodrow, J E; McChesney, M M; Seiber, J N

Methyl bromide is extensively used in agriculture (4 x 10/sup 6/ kg for 1985 in California alone as a fumigant to control nematodes, weeds, and fungi in soil and insect pests in harvested grains and nuts. Given its low boiling point (3.8/sup 0/C) and high vapor pressure (approx. 1400 Torr at 20/sup 0/C), methyl bromide will readily diffuse if not rigorously contained. Methods for determining methyl bromide and other halocarbons in air vary widely. A common practice is to trap the material from air on an adsorbent, such as polymeric resins, followed by thermal desorption either directly into the analytical instrumentation or after intermediary cryofocusing. While in some cases analytical detection limits were reasonable (parts per million range), many of the published methods were labor intensive and required special handling techniques that precluded high sample throughput. They describe here a method for the sampling and analysis of airborne methyl bromide that was designed to handle large numbers of samples through automating some critical steps of the analysis. The result was a method that allowed around-the-clock operation with a minimum of operator attention. Furthermore, the method was not specific to methyl bromide and could be used to determine other halocarbons in air.

• Research Organization: Univ. of California, Davis (USA)
• OSTI ID: 7256629
• Journal Information: Anal. Chem.; (United States), Journal Name: Anal. Chem.; (United States) Vol. 60:5; ISSN ANCHA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
400102* -- Chemical & Spectral Procedures
500200 -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AIR
AIR SAMPLERS
AUTOMATION
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
CHROMATOGRAPHY
DATA
DESIGN
EQUIPMENT
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FLUIDS
GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY
GASES
INFORMATION
MATERIALS
NUMERICAL DATA
ORGANIC BROMINE COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
PERFORMANCE
QUANTITATIVE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
SAMPLERS
SAMPLING
SEPARATION PROCESSES
TOXIC MATERIALS