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
PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS 1-10 ppm—Eye irritation; lacrimation at 4 ppm ppm—Coughing, heart palpitations, tight feeling in chest ppm and above—Pulmonary edema, pneumonitis, death Contact with skin (formalin or HCHO-containing resins)—Dermatitis Male single oral ingestion 517 mg/kg (DHHS) Minimum Fatal Dose Level —
OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE STANDARDS ACGIH TLV ® 0.3 ppm (Ceiling) OSHA PEL 0.75 ppm (TWA) 2 ppm (Ceiling) NIOSH REL 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 (1,8-dihydroxynaphthalene-3,6-disulfonic acid) Impinger/chromotropic acid Method 3500
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 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% Rise time to 90%30-45 seconds 5-10 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
CONTINUOUS MONITORING SYSTEM SINGLE POINT APPLICATION
CONTINUOUS MONITORING SYSTEM TWO POINT APPLICATION
CONTINUOUS MONITORING SYSTEM MULTI-POINT (THREE OR MORE) APPLICATION
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 the Prairie Section of the American Industrial Hygiene Association and