🌿 Determination of epichlorohydrin in drinking water and in water for the production of drinking water — 100 ml of sample (with the internal standard ¹³C3-epichlorohydrin for GC-MS or ethyl 2-chloropropionate for GC-ECD) is passed at 1–3 ml/min through a cartridge with at least 200 mg of styrene-divinylbenzene sorbent, water is removed with nitrogen down to 250–350 mg of residual water, the analyte is eluted with 2 ml of diisopropyl ether and determined by gas chromatography on a capillary column with an MS detector (ions m/z 49/51) or ECD; five-point calibration through the whole procedure; limit of quantification about 0.5 µg/l, which can be lowered to 0.1 µg/l, PN-EN 14207

Environment PN-EN 14207

Overview

WHAT THE STANDARD COVERS. We read the text of the standard in the iTeh sample of SIST EN 14207:2003 (English text of EN 14207:2003): EN title page, contents, foreword, Clauses 1–8 and Clause 9 up to 9.2 (calibration with an internal standard, explanation of the symbols of formula 1) — the sample ends on page 9. Several fragments are missing in the text (including the first sentence of 4.2, part of 5.7.1, the end of 5.10 on recovery, 6.1 and the heading of 8.1.2). We do not read Clauses 10–13 (calculation and expression of results, test report, precision data) or Annexes A–C (examples of sorbents, columns, chromatograms and spectra); we know the titles from the contents.

ACCORDING TO THE TEXT OF EN 14207:2003. The standard was prepared by CEN/TC 230 “Water analysis” (secretariat DIN) and approved by CEN on 17.01.2003; national standards were to adopt it at the latest by October 2003; Annexes A–C are informative; the test should be carried out by qualified staff. Scope (1): determination of epichlorohydrin in drinking water and in water for the production of drinking water; limit of quantification in routine analysis about 0.5 µg/l (verified in an interlaboratory test), which can be lowered for monitoring to 0.1 µg/l. References (2): EN 25667-1 and -2 (design of programmes and sampling techniques), EN ISO 5667-3 (preservation and handling of samples), ISO 5667-5 (drinking water), ISO 8466-1 (linear calibration). Principle (3): solid-phase extraction of epichlorohydrin from water, followed by gas chromatography with a mass detector, alternatively with an electron capture detector (ECD). Interferences and losses (4): epichlorohydrin decomposes easily — avoid storage and analyse as soon as possible, and when storage is necessary, at 2–5 °C; sorbents vary in quality, with large differences between batches — calibration and analysis on the same batch, without losses when removing water from the sorbent; GC-MS conditions according to the manufacturer, checked regularly, system stability monitored e.g. with a standard. Reagents (5): purity “for residue analysis”, blank checked regularly, especially before using a new batch; double-distilled water; nitrogen ≥ 99.996 % (V/V) for removing water from the sorbent; diisopropyl ether; methanol for conditioning; reducing agent, e.g. sodium thiosulfate; epichlorohydrin stock solution 50 mg in 100 ml of diisopropyl ether, at 2–5 °C, stable for about 6 months, with the concentration checked before analysis; internal standard not present in the sample — ¹³C3-epichlorohydrin for GC-MS (e.g. a certified solution of 100 µg/ml in nonane; not more than 100 µl of the diluted ether solution per 100 ml of sample, because a larger volume lowers the recovery; the peak area of the standard should correspond to about 1 µg/l of analyte) or ethyl 2-chloropropionate for GC-ECD; spiking solutions in diisopropyl ether at 2–5 °C for at most one month; aqueous calibration solutions at five levels, prepared daily (e.g. 10 µl of solution to 100 ml of water, not more than 100 µl) — example in Table 1: 0.1; 0.3; 0.5; 0.7 and 0.9 µg/l; sorbent based on a styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer, commercial cartridges or glass cartridges with at least 200 mg of sorbent. Apparatus (6): equipment free of interfering compounds; 500 ml bottles, preferably of brown glass, with glass stoppers or PTFE-lined screw caps; SPE cartridges; vacuum or pressure system; volumetric flasks; brown glass vials with PTFE septa; capillary gas chromatograph with MS or ECD, preferably with an autosampler; split/splitless, cold on-column or PTV injector; capillary columns (examples in Annex B); 5 and 10 µl syringes. Sampling (7): according to EN 25667-1, -2, EN ISO 5667-3 and ISO 5667-5; 500 ml brown glass bottles filled completely; analysis as soon as possible, and if necessary storage at 2–5 °C; samples containing free chlorine or another oxidizing disinfectant are preserved with a reducing agent — about 100 mg/l of sodium thiosulfate added to the bottle before sampling. Procedure (8): conditioning of the cartridge (200 mg) with 5 ml of diisopropyl ether, 5 ml of methanol and 5 ml of water, without letting the bed dry out and without air bubbles; 100 ml of sample with the internal standard is passed at a constant rate of 1–3 ml/min — the volume of 100 ml must not be exceeded to avoid breakthrough of epichlorohydrin; water is removed from the bed with nitrogen at 1–2 l/min for 5 min, leaving 250–350 mg of water to avoid losses (moist sorbent is brown, dry — light orange); elution with 2 ml of diisopropyl ether after about 10 min of equilibration (residual water forms a separate phase in the eluate); chromatography on columns with a dimethylpolysiloxane phase, MS or ECD detection; before analysing samples at least one blank with 100 ml of water through the whole procedure — a peak in the retention time window of epichlorohydrin indicates contamination to be removed. Identification (8.4): retention time consistent with the last calibration standard within ± 0.08 min (4.8 s), and either all ions above 10 % relative intensity in the spectrum of the standard present in the sample spectrum with a difference of up to ± 20 % absolute, or the ratio of the diagnostic ions m/z 49 and 51 within ± 13 % of the standard; ions m/z 62/64 are unsuitable with the ¹³C3 standard (they overlap with m/z 64/66 of the standard), the molecular ion is not formed, and the ion m/z 57 is not specific (it is also produced e.g. by n-alkanes); with ECD positive results are confirmed on two columns of different polarity. Calibration (9): linear signal response, working range from at least five points according to ISO 8466-1, valid only in the measured range and checked regularly (routinely with two points); with an internal standard the result does not depend on injection errors, preparation losses and matrix effects if the recovery of analyte and standard is similar; calibration solutions (at least five levels, the lowest close to but above the limit of quantification) go through the whole procedure of Clause 8; calibration function — ratio of analyte and standard signals as a function of the ratio of concentrations (formula 1).

STATUS (as of 03.10.2026). In the PKN search (query “14207”, 03.10.2026) PN-EN 14207:2005 (Polish version, “Wprowadza: EN 14207:2003 [IDT]”) carries no withdrawal note; PN-EN 14207:2003 (English version) — “Wycofana i zastąpiona przez PN-EN 14207:2005 – wersja polska”. Card of PN-EN 14207:2005: publication date 20.04.2005, 20 pages, KT 122 Jakości Wody — Badania Chemiczne — Substancje Organiczne, no withdrawal note. In the iTeh catalogue (read 03.10.2026) EN 14207:2003 has the status “Published”, stage 90.93 (decision to confirm after review).

HOW MANY LABORATORIES AND IN WHAT FORM (copy of the accreditation scope database, data up to 17.09.2026, read 03.10.2026). The number 14207 appears in 3 records at 3 laboratories: AB 313, AB 400, AB 412. In the current PCA documents (read 03.10.2026; AB 412 issue no. 34 of 26.06.2026, AB 313 issue no. 43 of 08.07.2026, AB 400 issue no. 37 of 07.08.2026) the number appears in 3 lines at the same 3 laboratories; in each document the number of page markers equals the number of PDF pages, without repetitions; a search of all PCA documents downloaded from the BIP on 03.10.2026 found no laboratories outside the database copy. The form is “PN-EN 14207:2005” (AB 313, AB 400) and “PN-EN 14207” (AB 412). None of these items is suspended (in the AB 412 document the word “zawieszony” refers to suspended particulate matter). The “Laboratories” tab (query “PN-EN 14207”) shows all 3 laboratories — checked by a tab query on the labcoda.pl production server on 03.10.2026.

WHAT THE LABORATORIES TEST (items in PCA). Object: water (AB 313, AB 412), water intended for human consumption (AB 400). Characteristic: epichlorohydrin concentration. Ranges: (0.030–1.00) µg/l (AB 313), (0.025–1.00) µg/l (AB 400); AB 412 gives no range. Technique: GC-MS (AB 313, AB 412), GC with tandem mass spectrometry GC-MS-MS (AB 400).

WHERE A SEEMINGLY CORRECT RESULT IS EASY TO GET. Lower limit: the standard gives a limit of quantification of about 0.5 µg/l in routine analysis and the possibility of lowering it to 0.1 µg/l (1), and Table 1 starts the calibration at 0.1 µg/l — AB 313 and AB 400 give ranges starting at 0.030 and 0.025 µg/l, below these values; the lowest calibration point should lie close to but above the limit of quantification (9.2). Detector: the standard provides for MS or ECD; AB 400 uses tandem mass spectrometry — the identification criteria of 8.4 concern spectra and the ions m/z 49/51 in GC-MS. Sample: epichlorohydrin decomposes easily, so analysis as soon as possible, storage only at 2–5 °C (4.1, 7); chlorinated water requires thiosulfate added before sampling (7). Extraction: exceeding 100 ml of sample risks breakthrough, drying too strongly with nitrogen — loss of analyte (residual water 250–350 mg), and calibration and analysis must be done on the same sorbent batch (4.2, 8.1). Identification: the ion m/z 57 is not specific, and m/z 62/64 overlaps with the ¹³C3 standard (8.4). Matrix: the scope of the standard is drinking water and water for its production (1); AB 313 and AB 412 record the object generally as “water”.

WHAT WE DO NOT GIVE. Calculation formulae other than the calibration function, the test report and precision data (Clauses 10–13) and the examples of sorbents, columns and spectra from Annexes A–C are not quoted — they lie outside the sample. We do not give the parametric value for epichlorohydrin from drinking water legislation.

Method principle

100 ml of water with an internal standard (¹³C3-epichlorohydrin for GC-MS) is passed through a cartridge with styrene-divinylbenzene sorbent, excess water is removed with nitrogen and epichlorohydrin is eluted with 2 ml of diisopropyl ether. The eluate is separated by gas chromatography on a column with a dimethylpolysiloxane phase and detected by a mass spectrometer (identification: retention time ± 0.08 min, ions m/z 49 and 51) or an electron capture detector. The concentration is calculated from a five-point calibration carried out through the whole procedure.

Applications

• Epichlorohydrin in drinking water and in water for the production of drinking water; limit of quantification about 0.5 µg/l, down to 0.1 µg/l (1)
• Water and water intended for human consumption — items in the accreditation scopes of 3 laboratories in PCA

Key parameters

Standard

Standard number

PN-EN 14207:2005

Title (PL)

Jakość wody — Oznaczanie epichlorohydryny

Title (EN)

Water quality — Determination of epichlorohydrin

Step-by-step procedure

1. Sampling

   Brown glass bottle filled completely, with thiosulfate if chlorine is present; analysis as soon as possible, otherwise 2–5 °C (7). PN-EN 14207:2005 with no withdrawal note in PKN (03.10.2026).

2. Conditioning

   5 ml of diisopropyl ether, 5 ml of methanol, 5 ml of water; the bed must not dry out (8.1.1).

3. Extraction

   100 ml of sample with internal standard, 1–3 ml/min; drying with nitrogen 1–2 l/min, 5 min, to 250–350 mg of water (8.1).

4. Elution and GC

   2 ml of diisopropyl ether after about 10 min; GC-MS (m/z 49/51) or GC-ECD; blank before samples (8.1.3–8.4).

5. Calibration and result

   Five levels through the whole procedure, with internal standard; result in µg/l (9; calculations in Clause 10, outside the sample).

Required equipment and apparatus

Reagents, media and consumables

Health and safety (OHS)

• Epichlorohydrin — toxic substance; prepare standard solutions in a fume hood, wearing gloves
• Diisopropyl ether and methanol — flammable; away from ignition sources (warning in the foreword)

Frequently asked questions