Determination of Methanol and Acetone in Ambient Air by Gas Chromatography-mass Spectrometry

Objectives To establish a method for the determination of methanol and acetone in ambient air by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Methods Air samples for methanol and acetone in ambient air were collected into silica gel tubes by pumping and then desorbed and extracted by methylbenzene, the levels of methanol and acetone were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry with selected ion monitoring method.

Results The detection limits for methanol and acetone were 1.2×10^-4 μg and 7.3×10^-5 μg respectively; and the quantification limits were 4.0×10^-4 μg and 2.5×10^-4 μg respectively. The linear range of the method for methanol and acetone were 0.08~10.0 mg/m³ and 0.05~10.0 mg/m³ respectively in 5 L of air. The relative standard deviation of methanol was 1.3%~4.2%, while the recovery rate was in the range of 92.8%~99.1%. The relative standard deviation of acetone was 1.1%~3.2% while the recovery rate was in the range of 87.3%~98.1%.

Conclusions The method is simple, sensitive, accurate and is applicable to the determination of methanol and acetone in ambient air.