🌿 Heptane in workplace air — adsorption on activated carbon, extraction with toluene and gas chromatography, PN-Z-04138-02

Environment PN-84/Z-04138

Overview

WHAT THE STANDARD COVERS. The scope from the PKN catalogue card, quoted in full: "A method is given consisting in the adsorption of heptane vapour on activated carbon, its extraction with toluene and chromatographic analysis of the resulting solution. The method is used for determining the concentration of heptyne vapour in workplace air. The apparatus and instruments, the preparation of reagents and solutions, the operating conditions of the chromatograph and the preparation of the calibration curve are specified." The word "heptyne" ("heptynu") comes from the card — the title and the first sentence speak of heptane. The card does not give the lowest determinable concentration.

STATUS (state of the card on 29 September 2026). The card carries the heading "Withdrawn" and the row "Date of withdrawal: 07-07-2015". There are no "Superseded by" and "Supersedes" fields. Edition: published 19-09-1984, 3 pages, PKN technical committee KT 159 (Chemical and Dust Hazards in the Working Environment), ICS 13.040.30. The PKN search for "PN-Z-04138" (29 September 2026) shows only this sheet and sheet 01 ("General provisions and scope of the standard") — both labelled "Withdrawn"; a successor WE HAVE NOT ESTABLISHED.

LIMIT VALUES AND THE REGULATION ON THE METHOD. The NDS list — 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 294 "Heptane" [142-82-5]: NDS (8-hour value) 1200 mg/m³, NDSCh (short-term value) 2000 mg/m³, without the "skin" notation. 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). The regulation does not name this standard, and another regulation citing it WE HAVE NOT ESTABLISHED; whether a standard withdrawn by PKN falls under the words of § 16 "where there are no such standards" — WE DO NOT DECIDE.

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 04138 with sheet 02: 17 entries at 13 laboratories; one scope row of AB 886 is split into three entries in the copy and has lost its range in mg/m³ — in the PCA scope (issue no. 26 of 12 February 2026) it is (0.17 – 5000) mg/m³ and (0.005 – 30) mg in the sample, with procedure PB-02. At AB 1144 the record with this standard carries in the copy, by mistake, the name and range of ethylbenzene from the neighbouring row; in the PCA scope (issue no. 26 of 8 January 2026) the heptane row is (1.60 – 2920) mg/m³ and (0.0160 – 7.30) mg in the sample. Forms: "PN-84/Z-04138/02" — 7 laboratories (at AB 300 with instruction IN-59, at AB 882 with PB-01, at AB 886 with PB-02, at AB 1207 with PB-06A), "PN-84/Z-04138-02" — AB 565, "PN-84/Z-04138.02" — AB 622 and AB 746, "PN-Z-04138-02:1984" — AB 340, AB 562 (with PB_42) and the second entry of AB 882 (with PB-10), "PN-84/Z 04138/02" without a hyphen — AB 1302. The "Laboratories" tab searches for records BEGINNING with "PN-84/Z-04138" — the standard field deliberately omits the sheet number, because three laboratories write it after a hyphen or a dot — and will show 10 laboratories; checked with the tab query on the labcoda.pl production server on 29 September 2026: 10. AB 340, AB 562 and AB 1302 remain outside it. Current scopes on the PCA website (read on 29 September 2026, issues from 3 November 2025 to 8 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; AB 746 has entries suspended at its own request in its scope (issue no. 38 of 22 July 2026), but not this one.

TECHNIQUE AND RANGES. Gas chromatography with a flame ionisation detector (GC-FID) — 12 laboratories; with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) — AB 1207 and the second entry of AB 882. Lower limits in mg/m³: from 0.17 (AB 886) and 0.33 (AB 1207) through 0.84 (AB 300), 1.60 (AB 1144), 1.71 (AB 882), 2.75 (AB 581), 4.35 (AB 340), 4.44 (AB 1302) and 5 (AB 562, AB 565) to 24 (AB 622), 62.5 (AB 746) and 120 mg/m³ (AB 632) — at all of them not higher than one tenth of the NDS (120 mg/m³). Upper: from 2000 mg/m³ (AB 340) to 8000 mg/m³ (AB 300). At AB 340 the range ends exactly at the NDSCh — a result higher than the short-term value lies outside its accreditation range. AB 565 has two entries: the mass of heptane in the sample (0.05–25 mg) and the concentration "by calculation" (5–3300 mg/m³).

ALONGSIDE THIS STANDARD. For heptane at workplaces the copy has, apart from this standard (full list): the method "NIOSH Method 1500 Issue 3 (2003)" — AB 1226 (n-hexane and n-heptane); the method from the quarterly "Podstawy i Metody Oceny Środowiska Pracy" 2004, No. 4(42), pp. 67–73 — three laboratories: AB 1854 (with instruction IR-23; mass of n-heptane in the sample), AB 1642 (concentration and mass in the sample) and AB 522 (together with procedure PB-17-27; both entries suspended at the request of the laboratory from 18.08.2026 to 14.02.2027); in-house procedures of AB 387, AB 481, AB 484, AB 522 (PB-17-27, entries suspended), AB 719, AB 802, AB 849, AB 863, AB 869, AB 1037, AB 1065 and AB 1257; the general record "Normy, Procedury badawcze" (standards, test procedures) (AB 934). We did not check the titles of the publications. (A search for the word "heptane" also catches n-heptanal at AB 1207 — a different compound, not on this list.)

WHAT WE DO NOT GIVE. We did not have the text of the standard — PKN sells it (3 pages). We do not give the amount of activated carbon, the air volume and flow, the volume of toluene, the chromatograph conditions, the calibration curve, the formula or the precision.

Method principle

According to the card of the standard, heptane vapour from workplace air is adsorbed on activated carbon, extracted with toluene and the solution is analysed by gas chromatography; the standard specifies the apparatus, the preparation of reagents and solutions, the operating conditions of the chromatograph and the preparation of the calibration curve. The result is compared with the NDS of 1200 mg/m³ and the NDSCh of 2000 mg/m³ (Journal of Laws 2026 item 447, item 294). We DO NOT GIVE the sampling or chromatographic conditions — we did not have the text of the standard.

Applications

• Measurements of heptane vapour in workplace air — assessment against the NDS of 1200 mg/m³ and the NDSCh of 2000 mg/m³ (Journal of Laws 2026 item 447, item 294)
• In accreditation scopes: 13 laboratories, 12 with GC-FID, AB 1207 and AB 882 also with GC-MS

Key parameters

Standard

Standard number

PN-Z-04138-02:1984 (wersja polska)

Title (PL)

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

Title (EN)

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

Step-by-step procedure

1. Status of the document

   PKN card: standard withdrawn on 07-07-2015, no successor indicated (state of the card on 29 September 2026).

2. Sampling

   Heptane vapour is adsorbed on activated carbon (from the card). Air volume and flow NOT GIVEN.

3. Extraction

   Heptane is extracted from the activated carbon with toluene (from the card).

4. Chromatographic analysis

   Gas chromatography of the solution, with a calibration curve; conditions NOT GIVEN.

5. Result and assessment

   The concentration in mg/m³ is compared with the NDS of 1200 mg/m³ and the NDSCh of 2000 mg/m³.

Required equipment and apparatus

Reagents, media and consumables

Health and safety (OHS)

• Toluene and heptane are flammable — extraction in a fume cupboard, away from ignition sources; the safety data sheets apply
• SUBSTANTIVE NOTE: where the laboratory range ends at 2000 mg/m³, a result above the NDSCh lies outside the accreditation — for a short-term exposure assessment ask for the upper range limit

Frequently asked questions