cen:proj:78119

Ambient air — Standard method for the measurement of organic ozone precursor concentrations — Part 3: Manual or automatic canister sampling followed by offline GC with FID and/or MS cen:proj:78119

Scope

This document gives general guidance for sampling of atmospheric organic ozone precursor vapours (VOCs) using canisters. The described procedures are appropriate for alkanes, alkenes, alkynes, and aromatic compounds with two to six carbon atoms (C2 to C6) in ambient air and in the mole fraction range of pmol/mol up to μmol/mol. Air sample storage time is recommended to be as short as possible before analysis in order to prevent potential loss to canister surfaces or artefact build-up during storage. Under conditions of normal usage for sampling ambient air, most VOCs can be recovered from canisters near their original concentrations after storage times of up to thirty days. According to monitoring requirements, the sampling time may vary from seconds to several hours. From the canister samples the target compounds are then typically analysed by gas chromatography using flame ionisation detection and/or mass spectroscopy.

Related legislation

Legislation related to this standard