Determination of Phosgene in Air at Workplace by Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography-tandem Mass Spectrometry

Objectives To develop a method for the determination of phosgene in the air at workplace by ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-ESI-MS/MS).

Methods After air samples being collected, the target compound was separated in an ACQUITY UPLCTM system by BEH C₁₈ column with methanol and water (both containing 0.002 mol/L ammonium acetate) andgradient elution, and was determined qualitatively and quantitatively by electrospray positive ionization (ESI+) and multiple reaction monitoring (MRM).

Results The target compound was in a good linearity between 0.5 and 150 μg/L, the correlation coefficient of calibration curves was 0.9998, the limit of detection (LOD) was 0.1 μg/L (take the signal to noise ration as 3), the minimum detection limit (MDL) was 3.3×10^-3mg/m³(in a sample volume of 7.5 L), the recovery of standard addition at three levels was 88.0%~97.5%, the relative standard deviation (RSD) was less than 5% (n=6).

Conclusions The method is characterized by high sensitivity and precision, extensive analytical range and quickly analytical rate and it can be used for the determination of phosgene in air at workplace.