🌿 Ethylene glycol in workplace air — vapour on activated carbon, aerosol on a glass-fibre filter, extraction with a solution of methanol in methylene chloride, gas chromatography; determinability according to the standard 65 mg/m³ of vapour and 2.5 mg/m³ of aerosol, MAC (NDS) 15 mg/m³, STEL (NDSCh) 50 mg/m³, "skin" notation; PN-Z-04203-02:1988 (withdrawn 13-02-2007)

Environment PN-Z-04203-02

Overview

WHAT THE STANDARD COVERS. Scope from the PKN card, in full: "The method consists of adsorption of ethylene glycol vapour on activated carbon, and of the areosol of ethyl glycol on a glass-fibre filter, its extraction with a solution of methyl alcohol in methylene chloride and chromatographic analysis of the resulting solution. The determinability of the method is 65 mg of vapour and 2.5 mg of aerosol in 1 cubic metre of air" (our translation; the misspellings "areosol" and "ethyl glycol" as on the card, no full stop at the end). We did not have the text of the standard (4 pages); the CIOP index of methods from 2000–2017 lists no article on ethylene glycol (searched on 04.10.2026).

NDS VALUES (list in the annex to the regulation of 26 March 2026, Journal of Laws 2026 item 447). Item 277: "Ethylene glycol [107-21-1]" — NDS 15 mg/m³, NDSCh 50 mg/m³, "skin" notation (according to footnote 4 of the list, absorption through the skin "may be as important as in exposure by inhalation"). The determinability for vapour according to the card, 65 mg/m³, is more than four times the NDS and higher than the NDSCh.

STATUS (card as of 04.10.2026). The card of PN-Z-04203-02:1988 (Polish version) has the heading "Withdrawn": published 28-11-1988, withdrawal date 13-02-2007, 4 pages, price group B, Health, Environment and Medicine Sector, KT 159 Chemical and Dust Hazards in the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-04203" and "glikolu etylenowego" (04.10.2026) returns only two sheets of the series — PN-Z-04203-01:1988 (general provisions and scope) and PN-Z-04203-02:1988 — both labelled "Withdrawn"; it shows no current standard for ethylene glycol.

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 04203-02 (with a hyphen, dot or slash before the sheet number) appears in 6 records at 5 laboratories; in the current PCA documents (read on 03.10.2026; issues from 08.01.2026 to 30.07.2026 — all issued almost 19 years after the withdrawal of the standard) — in 6 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. Old form "PN-88/Z-04203/02" — AB 647, AB 1144 and AB 882 (together with procedure PB-01 issue 5 of 12.01.2026, GC-FID); "PN-88/Z-04203.02" — AB 484; form "PN-Z-04203-02:1988" — the second AB 882 item (together with procedure PB-10 issue 1 of 31.08.2022, GC-MS) and AB 719 ("PN-Z-04203-02:1988 pkt 8" together with procedure PA-19 issue 6 of 27.01.2020 "excluding item 3.8"). "Laboratories" tab: "PN-88/Z-04203/02" shows 3 laboratories, "PN-Z-04203-02" — 2 (AB 882 under both queries), "PN-88/Z-04203.02" — 1, 5 in total, the same in the copy and on the production server labcoda.pl (tab queries of 04.10.2026).

WHAT THE LABORATORIES TEST (database copy and PCA documents). Object: working environment — air; at AB 647 samples collected on activated carbon tubes, at AB 719 on sorption tubes with activated carbon or silica gel. Quantity: concentration (content) of ethylene glycol; no laboratory distinguishes vapour and aerosol in its scope. Ranges in mg/m³: 0.83–333.3 (AB 484), 0.920–520 (AB 1144), 0.95–358 (AB 882, GC-FID), 1.3–100 (AB 647), 1.38–643 (AB 882, GC-MS); AB 719 — 0.030–15.0 mg in the sample. Technique: gas chromatography with flame ionisation detection (GC-FID) — all 5 laboratories; AB 882 additionally has a GC-MS item according to procedure PB-10. DATABASE COPY ERROR: the AB 1144 record has "Concentration/content of ethylbenzene" as its methodology in the copy (range 1.10–960 mg/m³), while the description of ethylene glycol ended up in the object field — in the PCA document (issue no. 26 of 08.01.2026) ethylene glycol, 0.920–520 mg/m³, is given next to "PN-88/Z-04203/02"; we give the AB 1144 range from the PCA document.

WHERE A SEEMINGLY CORRECT RESULT IS EASY TO GET. First — sensitivity against the NDS: according to the card the determinability for vapour is 65 mg/m³, i.e. more than the NDS (15) and the NDSCh (50 mg/m³); the method as worded on the card does not allow vapour exposure to be assessed at NDS level. Laboratories giving a range in mg/m³ (all except AB 719, which gives only mg in the sample) have a bottom limit from 0.83 to 1.38 mg/m³, which requires conditions entirely different from those in the standard — the report should name them. Second — vapour and aerosol: the standard separates the sampling of vapour (activated carbon) and aerosol (glass-fibre filter); the laboratories' scopes speak only of "ethylene glycol", and AB 719 gives tubes with carbon or silica gel, without a filter — whether the result covers aerosol does not follow from the scopes. Third — status: the standard has been withdrawn since 13-02-2007, and the PKN search shows no other standard for ethylene glycol; 5 laboratories have it in scopes issued in 2026. Fourth — accompanying documents: AB 719 cites only item 8 of the standard and procedure PA-19 excluding item 3.8; the AB 882 items are carried out according to in-house procedures PB-01 and PB-10. Fifth — database data: for AB 1144 the database copy wrongly gives ethylbenzene. Sixth — skin: a measurement in air does not cover absorption through the skin.

WHAT WE DO NOT GIVE. We did not have the text of the standard — we do not give the volume or flow rate of air sampling, the type of filter and carbon mass, the proportion of methanol in methylene chloride, the column, the detector required by the standard, chromatograph conditions or calculations; we do not know the content of item 8 of the standard or item 3.8 of procedure PA-19. We do not claim that another standard has replaced PN-Z-04203-02:1988 — PKN names none.

Method principle

Ethylene glycol vapour from workplace air is adsorbed on activated carbon and the aerosol retained on a glass-fibre filter; the glycol is extracted with a solution of methanol in methylene chloride, and the solution is analysed chromatographically (PKN card). The result in mg/m³ is compared with the NDS of 15 mg/m³ and the NDSCh of 50 mg/m³; determinability according to the card — 65 mg/m³ of vapour and 2.5 mg/m³ of aerosol. The standard is withdrawn (13-02-2007); WE DO NOT GIVE details — we did not have the text of the standard.

Applications

• Workplace air — ethylene glycol (vapour and aerosol) — in the current scopes of 5 laboratories, despite the withdrawal of the standard in 2007
• Assessment of occupational exposure against the NDS of 15 mg/m³ and the NDSCh of 50 mg/m³, "skin" notation (Journal of Laws 2026 item 447, item 277 of the list) — with the vapour determinability on the card higher than both values

Key parameters

Standard

Standard number

PN-Z-04203-02:1988

Title (PL)

Ochrona czystości powietrza — Badania zawartości glikolu etylenowego — Oznaczanie par i aerozolu glikolu etylenowego na stanowiskach pracy metodą chromatografii gazowej

Title (EN)

Air purity protection — Tests for ethylene glycol content — Determination of ethylene glycol vapour and aerosol at workplaces by gas chromatography

Step-by-step procedure

1. Status

   PN-Z-04203-02:1988 withdrawn on 13-02-2007, with no named successor (card as of 04.10.2026).

2. Sampling

   Vapour on activated carbon, aerosol on a glass-fibre filter (PKN card); WE DO NOT GIVE volumes.

3. Extraction and analysis

   Solution of methanol in methylene chloride, chromatographic analysis (PKN card); WE DO NOT GIVE conditions.

4. Result and assessment

   Concentration in mg/m³; comparison with the NDS of 15 mg/m³ and the NDSCh of 50 mg/m³ (Journal of Laws 2026 item 447); determinability 65 mg/m³ for vapour, 2.5 mg/m³ for aerosol.

Required equipment and apparatus

Reagents, media and consumables

Health and safety (OHS)

• Methylene chloride and methanol — work in a fume hood, chemical laboratory safety rules; ethylene glycol with a "skin" notation
• TECHNICAL NOTE: the vapour determinability on the card (65 mg/m³) exceeds the NDS and NDSCh; standard withdrawn on 13-02-2007

Frequently asked questions