Analytical Systems for Continuous Monitoring of ppt to ppm levels of Formaldehyde in Air

Description:
Among indoor air pollutants, aldehydes are of particular interest due to their potential impact on human health. Formaldehyde is often the most abundant aldehyde in the air and also the most studied due to its potential role in allergenic diseases and its carcinogenic properties. The increased prevalence of childhood asthma in the last decades emphasize the eventual impact of outdoor and indoor pollutants. As formaldehyde may contribute to this disease, it is of significant importance to be able to quantify this molecule in indoor and outdoor ambient air. In this work, we describe the developments and the results obtained by three different systems: an Automatic Gas 2D-chromatograph equipped with a thermodesorption unit and flame ionization detector (auto-TD-GC-FID), a transportable microdevice based on the derivatization of formaldehyde for continuous fluorimetric detection and a transportable high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) system using 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH) sampling tubes. The auto-TD-GC-FID can continuously quantify formaldehyde from ppb to ppm levels within 15 minutes. The system only requires a power supply and water tank when it is equipped with gas generators. The transportable microdevice quantifies formaldehyde without interference down to ppt levels with cycle times ranging from a few minutes to one hour, depending on the required detection limits. The compact and highly portable (4 kg) microdevice permits the accurate monitoring of formaldehyde concentrations over a long period of time without a power supply. This transportable HPLC-DNPH system (two suitcases of less than 18 kg), is designed to satisfy the requirements of the conventional reference method ISO16000-3, based on sampling with active DNPH tubes. This method allows for the quantification of aldehydes down to low ppt levels.
Keywords: Gas Chromatography, Volatile Organic Compounds, Formaldehyde, On-line Gas Monitoring, high performance liquid chromatography

Speaker: Jean-Philippe AMIET - CHROMATOTEC GROUP
Master Degree of Science from ENSCBP Bordeaux Polytechnic Institute in Chemistry by apprenticeship with a 3 years project on development and integration of online GCMS for VOC monitoring in ambient air at ultra-trace level with CHROMATOTEC from September 2010 to September 2013: 3 years
From 2013 until 2020 export project manager in CHROMATOTEC in charge of CHROMATOTEC Beijing office technical and commercial supervision. Area manager for Asia and middle east.
From 2020, Sales and marketing manager – head of sales and support department.
Involve in the development of VOC analyzer system airmOzone and GCMS system airmoSCANXpert.
2015 project manager for ATEX and CSA certification of MEDOR instruments using pressurised cabinet
2017 2018 project manager for ATEX and IECex type certification of pressurised and flameproof process GC.
2018 project manager for integration of online trace analyser for BTEX and VOCs in hazardous area using pressurized cabinet.