🌿 Epichlorohydrin (1-chloro-2,3-epoxypropane) in workplace air — gas chromatography with sample enrichment (in the laboratories' scopes GC-FID); MAC (NDS) 1 mg/m³, "skin" notation; PN-Z-04029-01:1981 (withdrawn 30-05-2014)

Environment PN-Z-04029-01

Overview

WHAT THE STANDARD COVERS. Scope from the PKN card, in full: "The method is used for determining the concentration of epichlorohydrin vapours in workplace air when checking sanitary and hygienic conditions" (our translation). Only the title speaks of the technique: "Determination of epichlorohydrin at workplaces by gas chromatography with sample enrichment". The card gives neither the sorbent, the solvent nor the lowest determinable concentration. We did not have the text of the standard (3 pages); the CIOP index of methods from 2000–2017 lists no article on epichlorohydrin (searched on 04.10.2026).

NDS VALUE (list in the annex to the regulation of 26 March 2026, Journal of Laws 2026 item 447). Item 100: "1-Chloro-2,3-epoxypropane – epichlorohydrin [106-89-8]" — NDS 1 mg/m³, no NDSCh, "skin" notation (according to footnote 4 of the list, absorption through the skin "may be as important as in exposure by inhalation").

STATUS (card as of 04.10.2026). The card of PN-Z-04029-01:1981 (Polish version) has the heading "Withdrawn": published 14-12-1981, withdrawal date 30-05-2014, 3 pages, price group B, Health, Environment and Medicine Sector, KT 159 Chemical and Dust Hazards in the Working Environment, ICS 13.040.30; the card does not name a replacing standard. The PKN search for "PN-Z-04029" (04.10.2026) shows two parts of the series — 00:1981 (general provisions) and 01:1981 — both labelled "Withdrawn". The term "epichlorohydryny" also returns the withdrawn PN-Z-04091:1970 ("Determination of epichlorohydrin content in air"), the current PN-EN 14207:2005 ("Water quality — Determination of epichlorohydrin" — a different matrix) and the withdrawn PN-C-89085-18:1987 (free epichlorohydrin in epoxy resins); under this term it shows no current standard for epichlorohydrin in workplace air. It is shown only by the term with the systematic name "1-chloro-2,3-epoksypropanu": PN-Z-04540:2022-08 "Air purity protection — Determination of 1-chloro-2,3-epoxypropane at workplaces by gas chromatography with mass spectrometry" (our translation) — card without the heading "Withdrawn", published 22-08-2022, lowest determinable concentration 0.1 mg/m³; the card has no "Replaces" field, so it does not link it to the 1981 standard. The 2022 standard is described in a separate entry of this database. PN-Z-04091 is not cited by any laboratory in the copy.

HOW MANY LABORATORIES AND IN WHAT FORM (copy of the accreditation scope database, data load up to 17.09.2026, read on 04.10.2026). The number 04029-01 (with a hyphen, full stop or slash before the part number) appears in 4 records at 4 laboratories; in the current PCA documents (read on 03.10.2026; issues from 27.10.2025 to 28.07.2026 — all issued after the withdrawal of the standard) — in 4 rows at the same laboratories; a search of all PCA documents downloaded from the BIP found no laboratories outside the database copy; no item is suspended, and no document repeats pages. The form "PN-Z-04029-01:1981" — AB 1642 (next to "NIOSH Method 1010, Issue 2, 15 August 1994") and AB 719 ("PN-Z-04029-01:1981 pkt 8" next to procedure PA-31 edition 7 of 24.01.2025); "PN-81/Z-04029.01" — AB 632; "PN-81/Z-04029/01" — AB 663. The "Laboratories" tab: "PN-Z-04029-01" shows 2 laboratories, "PN-81/Z-04029/01" — 1, "PN-81/Z-04029.01" — 1, 4 in total, the same in the copy and on the labcoda.pl production server (tab queries of 04.10.2026).

WHAT THE LABORATORIES TEST (database copy). Object: working environment — air; AB 632 — samples collected on sorbent tubes, AB 719 — on activated carbon sorption tubes, AB 1642 — on a solid sorbent, AB 663 — without a note. Quantity: concentration (content) of 1-chloro-2,3-epoxypropane (epichlorohydrin). Ranges in mg/m³: 0.024–527 (AB 1642, also 0.01–137 ppm), 0.1–2.0 (AB 632), 0.12–4 (AB 663); AB 719 — 0.0050–5.00 mg per sample. Technique: gas chromatography with flame ionisation detection (GC-FID) — all 4 laboratories.

WHERE A SEEMINGLY CORRECT RESULT IS EASY TO GET. First — status: the standard has been withdrawn since 30-05-2014, and for epichlorohydrin in workplace air PN-Z-04540:2022-08 is current (in the PKN catalogue under the name "1-chloro-2,3-epoxypropane"); 4 laboratories have it in scopes issued since October 2025 — the client should know that the result is produced according to a standard withdrawn from the PKN catalogue. Second — what is applied: AB 1642 cites NIOSH method 1010 next to the standard, and AB 719 only point 8 of the standard with procedure PA-31; the report should state according to which document the sample was taken and determined. Third — sensitivity: the card gives no determinability, so it cannot be checked whether the laboratories' bottom limits (0.024–0.12 mg/m³, i.e. 2.4–12 % of the NDS) are within the standard. Fourth — skin: the NDS has a "skin" notation, and a measurement in air does not cover absorption through the skin. Fifth — PN-EN 14207 concerns water, not air.

WHAT WE DO NOT GIVE. We did not have the text of the standard, and the card does not describe the method beyond the title — we do not give the sorbent, the solvent, the volume or flow rate of air sampling, the column, the detector required by the standard, the chromatograph conditions, the determinability or calculations; we do not know the content of point 8 of the standard. We do not claim that another standard has replaced PN-Z-04029-01:1981 — PKN names none.

Method principle

Epichlorohydrin vapours from workplace air are determined by gas chromatography with sample enrichment (title of the standard); the result in mg/m³ is compared with the NDS of 1 mg/m³. The card describes neither the sorbent, the solvent nor the determinability. The standard is withdrawn (30-05-2014); WE DO NOT GIVE details — we did not have the text of the standard.

Applications

• Workplace air — epichlorohydrin — in the current scopes of 4 laboratories, despite the withdrawal of the standard
• Assessment of occupational exposure against the NDS of 1 mg/m³, "skin" notation (Journal of Laws 2026 item 447, item 100 of the list)

Key parameters

Standard

Standard number

PN-Z-04029-01:1981

Title (PL)

Ochrona czystości powietrza — Badania zawartości epichlorohydryny — Oznaczanie epichlorohydryny na stanowiskach pracy metodą chromatografii gazowej z wzbogacaniem próbki

Title (EN)

Air purity protection — Tests for epichlorohydrin content — Determination of epichlorohydrin at workplaces by gas chromatography with sample enrichment

Step-by-step procedure

1. Status

   PN-Z-04029-01:1981 withdrawn 30-05-2014, with no successor named; for epichlorohydrin at workplaces PN-Z-04540:2022-08 is current (cards as of 04.10.2026).

2. Sampling and enrichment

   WE DO NOT GIVE the method — the card does not describe it.

3. Analysis

   Gas chromatography (title of the standard); WE DO NOT GIVE the conditions.

4. Result and assessment

   Concentration in mg/m³; comparison with the NDS of 1 mg/m³ (Journal of Laws 2026 item 447).

Required equipment and apparatus

Health and safety (OHS)

• Epichlorohydrin — "skin" notation in the NDS list; chemical laboratory safety rules
• TECHNICAL NOTE: standard withdrawn 30-05-2014; the card gives no determinability — the bottom limit cannot be related to the standard

Frequently asked questions