🌿 Aluminium and its compounds in workplace air — flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS), PN-Z-04263-1

Environment PN-Z-04263-1

Overview

WHAT THE STANDARD COVERS. The scope from the PKN catalogue card, quoted in full: "This standard specifies a method for the determination of aluminium (CAS No: 7429-90-5) and its compounds in workplace air using flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The method is used in the control of sanitary and hygienic conditions. The lowest concentration of aluminium that can be determined under the air sampling and determination conditions described in the standard is 0.07 mg/m3." The card does not say how samples are taken or how aluminium is brought into solution; in the scopes of some laboratories the object is "air samples collected on filters".

STATUS (state of the card on 29 September 2026). The card of PN-Z-04263-1:2012 (Polish version) carries no withdrawal note — the standard is CURRENT. Published 12-10-2012, 8 pages, PKN technical committee KT 159 (Chemical and Dust Hazards in the Working Environment), ICS 13.040.30; "Supersedes: PN-Z-04263-1:2000 - Polish version". The PKN search for "PN-Z-04263" (29 September 2026) shows only these two editions; the 2000 edition is labelled "Withdrawn".

LIMIT VALUES AND THE REGULATION ON THE METHOD. The Polish list of occupational exposure limits (NDS) — the annex to the regulation of 12 June 2018 as worded by the regulation of 26 March 2026 (Journal of Laws 2026 item 447): item 278 "Aluminium metal, aluminium powder (non-stabilised)" [7429-90-5], item 559 "Aluminium oxide [1344-28-1] – as Al" and item 574 "Aluminium hydroxide [21645-51-2] – as Al" — each with an NDS of 2.5 mg/m³ for the inhalable fraction and 1.2 mg/m³ for the respirable fraction, without a short-term value (NDSCh) and without the "skin" notation. The list defines both fractions according to PN-EN 481. The lowest determinable concentration from the card (0.07 mg/m³) is about 6 % of 1.2 mg/m³. The method is addressed by § 16 of the Regulation of the Minister of Health on tests and measurements of agents harmful to health in the working environment (consolidated text — Journal of Laws 2025 item 949): "Tests and measurements shall be carried out in accordance with the methods specified in Polish Standards and, where there are no such standards, with methods recommended and validated by the laboratories referred to in § 15(1) and (2)(1)" (our translation). This standard is a current Polish Standard; the regulation does not name it.

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 04263 with Part 1: 25 entries at 13 laboratories; one scope row of AB 886 (aluminium metal and aluminium powder) is split into four entries in the copy, so there are 22 rows in the scopes. All write "PN-Z-04263-1:2012"; AB 632 adds its instruction IB-13 (edition 7 of 1 October 2023), and AB 719 cites only clause 6 of the standard — next to its own procedure PA-29 (edition 18 of 30 January 2026, "excluding clause 3.6") and with the ICP-OES technique. The "Laboratories" tab searches for records BEGINNING with "PN-Z-04263-1" and shows all 13 laboratories — checked with the tab query on the labcoda.pl production server on 29 September 2026: 13. Current scopes on the PCA website (read on 29 September 2026, issues from 26 November 2025 to 17 September 2026): all entries stand in the valid issues, every numerical range from the copy appears in the current document and no entry is suspended.

WHAT THEY DETERMINE AND WITH WHAT. Technique: flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) — 12 laboratories; AB 719 — inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), with only clause 6 of the standard. The determinations match the items of the NDS list: aluminium metal and aluminium powder — all 13 laboratories, aluminium oxide as Al — 10 (AB 418, AB 481, AB 632, AB 719, AB 849, AB 882, AB 886, AB 940, AB 1287, AB 1302), aluminium hydroxide as Al — 7 (AB 418, AB 435, AB 481, AB 632, AB 849, AB 886, AB 940). Almost all give both fractions — inhalable and respirable.

RANGES AGAINST THE NDS. Lower limits in mg/m³: from 0.006 (AB 940) and 0.01 (AB 481) to 0.10–0.11 (AB 435, AB 1302) — at all of them below one tenth of the NDS for the respirable fraction (0.12 mg/m³); AB 400 and AB 581 start exactly at 0.07 mg/m³, the lowest concentration from the card. Upper: from 1.39 (AB 418) and 2.22 (AB 940) to 10–11 mg/m³ (AB 400, AB 481, AB 1302). At AB 418 and AB 940 the range ends below the NDS for the inhalable fraction (2.5 mg/m³) — a result above this value lies outside their accreditation range. AB 719 gives only the mass of aluminium in the sample (0.0025–5.00 mg).

ALONGSIDE THIS STANDARD. For aluminium and its compounds at workplaces the copy has, apart from this standard (full list): ISO 15202-3:2004 — AB 300 and AB 869 (at AB 869 written "ISO 15202-3:2004-11"); ISO 15202-2:2020-05 together with ISO 30011:2010 — AB 313 (in one of two entries also with the procedure PB-SP-01); the OSHA method ID-125G (September 2002) — AB 869; in-house procedures of AB 213 (EFO/PB/45/E), AB 802 (PB-06/08), AB 875 (PB 425) and AB 1302 (PB-61), and the general record "Procedury badawcze" (test procedures) (AB 934). We did not check the titles of the ISO and OSHA documents.

WHAT WE DO NOT GIVE. We did not have the text of the standard — PKN sells it (8 pages). We do not give the sampling method and type of filters, the digestion, the wavelength and flame conditions, the calibration curve, the formula or the precision; we do not know what clause 6, which AB 719 combines with ICP-OES, contains.

Method principle

According to the card of the standard, aluminium and its compounds in workplace air are determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry; the lowest concentration determinable under the conditions of the standard is 0.07 mg/m³. The result as Al is compared with the NDS of 2.5 mg/m³ for the inhalable fraction and 1.2 mg/m³ for the respirable fraction (Journal of Laws 2026 item 447, items 278, 559 and 574). We DO NOT GIVE the sampling, digestion or measurement conditions — we did not have the text of the standard.

Applications

• Measurements of aluminium metal, aluminium powder, aluminium oxide and hydroxide in workplace air — assessment against the NDS for the inhalable and respirable fractions (Journal of Laws 2026 item 447)
• In accreditation scopes: 13 laboratories, 12 with FAAS; AB 719 combines clause 6 of the standard with ICP-OES

Key parameters

Standard

Standard number

PN-Z-04263-1:2012 (wersja polska)

Title (PL)

Ochrona czystości powietrza — Badania zawartości glinu i jego związków — Część 1: Oznaczanie glinu i jego związków na stanowiskach pracy metodą płomieniową absorpcyjnej spektrometrii atomowej

Title (EN)

Air purity protection — Tests for aluminium and its compounds content — Part 1: Determination of aluminium and its compounds at workplaces by flame atomic absorption spectrometry

Step-by-step procedure

1. Status and edition

   PKN card: PN-Z-04263-1:2012 current (state of the card on 29 September 2026); the 2000 edition withdrawn.

2. Sampling

   In the scopes — air samples collected on filters, separately for the inhalable and respirable fractions. Requirements NOT GIVEN.

3. Determination

   Flame atomic absorption spectrometry; lowest determinable concentration 0.07 mg/m³ (from the card). Conditions NOT GIVEN.

4. Result

   Aluminium concentration in mg/m³ (as Al for the oxide and hydroxide); in the scopes of many laboratories also the mass in the sample.

5. Assessment

   Comparison with the NDS of 2.5 mg/m³ (inhalable fraction) and 1.2 mg/m³ (respirable fraction); where the laboratory range ends below 2.5 mg/m³, a result above this value lies outside the accreditation.

Required equipment and apparatus

Reagents, media and consumables

Health and safety (OHS)

• Work with the spectrometer flame and combustible gases — the instrument manufacturer's instructions apply
• SUBSTANTIVE NOTE: the NDS refers to a specific fraction (inhalable or respirable) — a result without the fraction cannot be compared with the list

Frequently asked questions