Formaldehyde Monitoring Presented by Michael D. Shaw

FORMALDEHYDE

HEALTH EFFECTS

CARCINOGENICITY EPA—“B1” Probable human carcinogen ACGIH—“A2” Suspected human carcinogen WHO (IARC)—“Group 1” Carcinogenic to humans

Male single oral ingestion 517 mg/kg (DHHS) 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

(1,8-dihydroxynaphthalene-3,6-disulfonic acid) 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)

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

INTERSCAN FORMALDEHYDE SENSOR

Excellent specificity 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

MONITORING PRODUCTS OFFERED BY

PORTABLE ANALYZER

SINGLE POINT APPLICATION CONTINUOUS MONITORING SYSTEM SINGLE POINT APPLICATION

CONTINUOUS MONITORING SYSTEM TWO POINT APPLICATION

MULTI-POINT (THREE OR MORE) APPLICATION CONTINUOUS MONITORING SYSTEM MULTI-POINT (THREE OR MORE) APPLICATION

DATA ACQUISITION, ARCHIVING, ARC-MAX® DATA ACQUISITION, ARCHIVING, AND REPORTING

ARC-MAX® MAIN SCREEN

ARC-MAX® SHIFT REPORT

ARC-MAX® TRENDING

ARC-MAX® ALARM LOG

For Survey Applications, We Recommend Our Nomad Data Logger 16-bit resolution Models available for voltage and 4-20mA inputs Self-contained units also available for temperature, humidity and pH Sampling rate adjustable—1 second to 10 hours in 1 second intervals Storage capacity—522,240 readings Excellent software included

Visualize your measurement session with an auto-scaling time history graph

Time history graph detail screen Zoomed in on particular portion of the curve

Ability To View All Individual Data Points

CONCLUDING REMARKS We've covered the health effects and occupational standards for formaldehyde We've looked at wet chemical and instrumental methods for formaldehyde We've seen a special application of Interscan's HCHO sensor

SPECIAL THANKS TO PROFESSOR GEORGE BYRNS and the Prairie Section of the American Industrial Hygiene Association