Formaldehyde Monitoring Presented by Michael D Shaw FORMALDEHYDE

Formaldehyde Monitoring Presented by Michael D. Shaw

FORMALDEHYDE

HEALTH EFFECTS

CARCINOGENICITY EPA—“B 1” ACGIH—“A 2” Probable human carcinogen Suspected human carcinogen WHO (IARC)—“Group 1” Carcinogenic to humans

PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS 1 -10 ppm—Eye irritation; lacrimation at 4 ppm 10 -20 ppm—Coughing, heart palpitations, tight feeling in chest 50 -100 ppm and above—Pulmonary edema, pneumonitis, death Contact with skin (formalin or HCHO-containing resins)—Dermatitis Minimum Fatal Dose Level — Male single oral ingestion 517 mg/kg (DHHS)

OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE STANDARDS ACGIH TLV® 0. 3 ppm (Ceiling) OSHA PEL 0. 75 ppm (TWA) 2 ppm (Ceiling) NIOSH REL 0. 016 ppm (TWA) 0. 1 ppm (Ceiling)

NIOSH ANALYTICAL METHODS

Method 2016 most sensitive Silica gel/2, 4 -dinitrophenylhydrazine Method 2541 Sorbent tube/2 -hydroxymethyl piperidine Method 3500 Impinger/chromotropic acid (1, 8 -dihydroxynaphthalene-3, 6 -disulfonic acid)

INSTRUMENT METHODS— PRACTICAL AND OTHERWISE FTIR Semi-automated wet chemical methods Electrochemical (converted alcohol detectors) Interscan purpose-designed HCHO sensor

INTERSCAN FORMALDEHYDE SENSOR

ADVANTAGES Good sensitivity 0 -500 parts-per-billion full scale measuring range available Excellent specificity Little effect from alcohols Full interference info on gasdetection. com website Quick response time Rise time to 50% 5 -10 seconds Rise time to 90% 30 -45 seconds

APPLICATIONS HCHO ubiquitous in the workplace, however… Biggest applications have been in the forest products industry e. g. , monitoring of emissions from manufactured wood products

Interscan’s HCHO sensor is the heart of Georgia Pacific’s DYNAMIC MICROCHAMBER Board compliance testing time reduced from 2 weeks to less than an hour