🌿 Butan-2-one (methyl ethyl ketone) in workplace air — gas chromatography, PN-Z-04449

Environment PN-Z-04449

Overview

WHAT THE STANDARD COVERS. The scope from the PKN card, quoted in full: "This standard gives a method for the determination of butan-2-one (methyl ethyl ketone), CAS No. 78-93-3, in workplace air using gas chromatography with mass spectrometry. The method is used in the monitoring of sanitary and hygienic conditions. The lowest concentration of butan-2-one that can be determined under the conditions of air sampling and determination described in the standard is 44.5 mg/m3" (our translation of the Polish card). The card does not give the sorbent, the desorption solvent, the air volume, the column or the calibration. The CIOP-PIB database of chemical agents gives for butan-2-one as determination methods "PN-Z-04449:2014" and "PiMOŚP 2012, nr 1(71)" — a method from the quarterly "Podstawy i Metody Oceny Środowiska Pracy" ("Butan-2-on – metoda oznaczania" — butan-2-one, determination method; authors according to the CIOP-PIB list: Wiktor Wesołowski, Małgorzata Kucharska, Jan Gromiec); we did not have the text of the article.

LIMIT VALUES. According to the regulation of the Minister of Family, Labour and Social Policy of 26 March 2026 (Journal of Laws 2026, item 447, annex, item 72), for butan-2-one [78-93-3] the NDS (8-hour value) is 450 mg/m³ and the NDSCh (short-term value) 900 mg/m³, with the "skin" notation.

STATUS (state of the card on 29 September 2026). The card of PN-Z-04449:2014-06 (Polish version) has no "Wycofana" (withdrawn) header — the standard is CURRENT: published 04-06-2014, 8 pages, price group D, Health, Environment and Medicine Sector, PKN technical committee KT 159 (Chemical and Dust Hazards in the Working Environment), ICS 13.040.30, "Supersedes: PN-Z-04107-02:1979 - Polish version". The PKN search for "PN-Z-04449" (29 September 2026) shows only this one edition.

HOW MANY LABORATORIES AND IN WHAT FORM (copy of the accreditation scope database, data up to 17 September 2026, read on 28 September 2026). All records of number 04449: 13 entries at 12 laboratories (AB 882 — two). "PN-Z-04449:2014-06" — 11 laboratories, "PN-Z-04449-06:2014" — AB 1144. A procedure next to the standard — AB 300 (IN-59, issue 3 of 18.12.2025), AB 882 (PB-01, issue 5 of 12.01.2026, and PB-10, issue 1 of 31.08.2022), AB 1207 (PB-06A) and AB 1854 (working instruction IR-23, issue 3 of 05.01.2023). The "Laboratories" tab searches for records BEGINNING with "PN-Z-04449" and will show all 12 laboratories — checked with the tab query on the labcoda.pl production server on 29 September 2026: 12. Current scopes on the PCA website (read on 29 September 2026, issues from 4 September 2025 to 8 September 2026): all entries stand in the valid issues, every pair of range limits from the copy appears in the current document and no entry is suspended (in the scope of AB 746 the footnote on suspension concerns other entries).

TEST ITEM, TECHNIQUE AND RANGES. Workplace air — all 12 laboratories; AB 1207 also ambient and indoor air. Technique: GC-FID — 10 laboratories; GC-MS — AB 343, AB 1207 and the second entry of AB 882. Concentration ranges: lower limits from 0.230 mg/m³ (AB 1642) and 0.83 (AB 1207) to 15 (AB 622) and 45 mg/m³ (AB 632); upper limits from 889 mg/m³ (AB 935) to 4000 (AB 882) and 5300 mg/m³ (AB 1207); AB 1854 gives only the mass in the sample, (400 – 8500) μg. The card speaks of mass spectrometry, while in the scopes 10 of the 12 laboratories state a flame ionization detector with this standard. The lowest determinable concentration according to the card is 44.5 mg/m³ — 10 of the 11 laboratories that give a concentration range have a lower limit below it (all except AB 632).

ALONGSIDE THIS STANDARD. Butan-2-one in workplace air without this standard is determined by 24 laboratories — mostly under in-house procedures (among others AB 481, AB 583, AB 802, AB 849, AB 863, AB 869, AB 875, AB 940, AB 1065, AB 1169), and under PN-Z-04107-02:1979, which according to the card this standard replaced — AB 340, AB 562, AB 647, AB 886 and AB 1302; AB 1226 cites an article from PiMOŚP 2007, No. 1(51), pp. 141–147 (an entry with several substances). Two of these 24 accreditations are SUSPENDED: the AB 1226 entry from 10.06.2026 to 07.12.2026, and both AB 522 entries (PB-17-27) from 18.08.2026 to 14.02.2027 (bold italics and a footnote in the current PCA documents). In waste gases butan-2-one is determined under PN-EN 13649:2005 — 16 laboratories, under an in-house procedure — AB 894 (PB-60, (0.2 – 800) mg/m³) and in the flexible scope of AB 934 ("Normy, Procedury badawcze"); in "general environment" air samples taken on sorbent tubes — AB 877 (the same entry with PN-EN 13649:2005, PN-Z-04008-4:1999 and PB-11), in ambient air — AB 912 (PB-05), in indoor air — AB 481 (TSO/PB-08, (52 – 10 000) µg/m³); 2-butanone in spirits and solvents — AB 907 (PB-LG-78, (0.5 – 5.0) %), in the aerosol of tobacco products — AB 1745 (PB-06, (0.1 – 10) µg/ml). The same scopes contain PN-Z-04119-10 (2-methoxy-1-methylethyl acetate — at 8 of these 12 laboratories) and PN-Z-04178-02 (vinyl acetate — at 5), described in separate Knowledge Base entries.

WHAT WE DO NOT GIVE. We did not have the text of the standard or of the article from PiMOŚP 2012, No. 1(71) — PKN sells the standard (8 pages). We do not give the sorbent, the desorption method, the air volume and flow rate, the column and separation conditions, the ions used for determination, the calibration or the formula.

Method principle

According to the PKN card, butan-2-one in workplace air is determined by gas chromatography with mass spectrometry; the lowest determinable concentration under the sampling and determination conditions described in the standard — 44.5 mg/m³. The sampling procedure and separation conditions are NOT GIVEN — we did not have the text of the standard.

Applications

• Butan-2-one in workplace air — in the scopes of 12 laboratories (NDS 450 mg/m³, NDSCh 900 mg/m³, "skin")
• Ambient and indoor air — AB 1207 (GC-MS)

Key parameters

Standard

Standard number

PN-Z-04449:2014-06 (wersja polska)

Title (PL)

Ochrona czystości powietrza — Oznaczanie butan-2-onu na stanowiskach pracy metodą chromatografii gazowej

Title (EN)

Air purity protection — Determination of butan-2-one at workplaces by gas chromatography

Step-by-step procedure

1. Status of the document

   PKN card: PN-Z-04449:2014-06 current, replaced PN-Z-04107-02:1979 (state of the card on 29 September 2026).

2. Sampling

   Workplace air through a sorbent tube; sorbent, volume and flow rate NOT GIVEN.

3. Analysis

   Gas chromatography with mass spectrometry (card); lowest determinable concentration 44.5 mg/m³; in the accreditation scopes 10 of 12 laboratories state an FID detector with this standard.

4. Result

   Concentration in mg/m³ for comparison with the NDS of 450 mg/m³ and the NDSCh of 900 mg/m³; formula NOT GIVEN.

Required equipment and apparatus

Reagents, media and consumables

Health and safety (OHS)

• Butan-2-one is highly flammable and, according to the NDS regulation, is absorbed through the skin ("skin" notation)
• SUBSTANTIVE NOTE: according to the card the standard provides for mass spectrometry and a limit of determination of 44.5 mg/m³, while the scopes usually state an FID detector and lower lower limits with it; the replaced PN-Z-04107-02:1979 is also cited for the same substance — when asking for the test, ask about the technique, the limit of quantification and the document

Frequently asked questions