Determination of methyl bromide in air samples by headspace gas chromatography
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), Vol. 60:5
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
ORGANIC
PHYSICAL AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AIR
QUANTITATIVE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
SAMPLING
AIR SAMPLERS
DESIGN
PERFORMANCE
ORGANIC BROMINE COMPOUNDS
GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY
AUTOMATION
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
TOXIC MATERIALS
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
CHROMATOGRAPHY
DATA
EQUIPMENT
FLUIDS
GASES
INFORMATION
MATERIALS
NUMERICAL DATA
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
SAMPLERS
SEPARATION PROCESSES
400102* - Chemical & Spectral Procedures
500200 - Environment
Atmospheric- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (-1989)