🌿 Xylene in workplace air — gas chromatography with sample enrichment; not used in the presence of substances with the same or a similar retention time; MAC (NDS) 100 mg/m³, STEL (NDSCh) 200 mg/m³ (mixture of isomers), "skin" notation; PN-Z-04116-01:1978 (withdrawn 10-09-2015)

Environment PN-Z-04116-01

Overview

WHAT THE STANDARD COVERS. Scope from the PKN catalogue card, in full (our translation): "The method is used for determining the concentration of xylene vapours in workplace air when checking sanitary and hygienic conditions. This method should not be used in the presence of substances with the same or a similar retention time as xylene, masking the chromatogram of the substance determined." The title adds that it is gas chromatography "with sample enrichment". The card gives neither the limit of quantification nor the method of enrichment. We did not have the text of the standard (3 pages). The determination of xylene in a mixture of solvents from nitrocellulose lacquer products is described in a separate entry of this database (five solvents from nitrocellulose products at once — gas chromatography, PN-Z-04023-02, withdrawn).

NDS VALUES (list in the annex to the regulation of 26 March 2026, Journal of Laws 2026 item 447). Item 332: "Xylene – mixture of isomers (1,2-; 1,3-; 1,4-) [95-47-6; 108-38-3; 106-42-3; 1330-20-7]" — NDS 100 mg/m³, NDSCh 200 mg/m³, "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 The card of PN-Z-04116-01:1978 (Polish version) has the heading "Withdrawn": published 29-11-1978, withdrawal date 10-09-2015, 3 pages, price group B, Health, Environment and Medicine Sector, KT 159 Chemical and Dust Hazards in the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 The PKN search for "PN-Z-04116" and "ksylenu" (04.10.2026) shows for workplaces only standards labelled "Withdrawn": PN-Z-04116-00:1978 (general provisions and scope of the standard), PN-Z-04116-01:1978 and PN-Z-04023-02:1989 (substances from nitrocellulose lacquer products); it returns no current standard for xylene at workplaces.

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 04116-01 (with a hyphen, full stop or slash before the part number, also with spaces) appears in 9 records at 6 laboratories; in the current PCA documents (read on 03.10.2026; issues from 27.10.2025 to 18.08.2026 — all issued after the withdrawal of the standard) — in 8 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. Written forms: "PN-Z-04116-01:1978" — AB 340 and the second item of AB 882 (next to procedure PB-10 edition 1 of 31.08.2022, GC-MS); "PN-78/Z-04116/01" — AB 663 and AB 882 (next to procedure PB-01 edition 5 of 12.01.2026); "PN-78/Z-04116.01" — AB 622; "PN-78-Z-04116.01" — AB 1642; AB 591 — "PN-78/Z -04116/01 z wył. pkt.8 i pkt.13" (excluding points 8 and 13; result per sample) and "PN-78/ Z -04116/01 pkt.8 i pkt.13" (points 8 and 13; concentration from calculation). The "Laboratories" tab finds entries beginning with the query entered: "PN-Z-04116-01" — 2 laboratories, "PN-78/Z-04116/01" — 2 (AB 882 under both queries), "PN-78/Z-04116.01" — 1, "PN-78-Z-04116.01" — 1, "PN-78/Z -04116/01" and "PN-78/ Z -04116/01" — 1 each (both AB 591), 6 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). Object: working environment — air, at some laboratories samples collected on sorbent tubes or a solid sorbent. Quantity: concentration (content) of xylene — mixture of the 1,2-, 1,3- and 1,4- isomers (AB 1642 gives o-, m- and p-xylene separately and their sum from calculation). Ranges in mg/m³: 0.0670–600 for each isomer and 0.0670–1820 for the sum (AB 1642), 0.4–350 (AB 663), 1.9–808 (AB 591, from calculation), 2.5–3986.0 (AB 340), 3.17–804 (AB 882, GC-MS), 4.8–628 (AB 622), 8.06–4033 (AB 882, GC-FID). Technique: gas chromatography with flame ionisation detection (GC-FID) — all 6 laboratories (at AB 591 and for the sum at AB 1642 the items from calculation have no technique); AB 882 also has a second item with gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection (GC-MS) according to procedure PB-10.

WHERE A SEEMINGLY CORRECT RESULT IS EASY TO GET. First — status: the standard has been withdrawn since 10-09-2015, and the PKN search shows no other standard for xylene; 6 laboratories have it in scopes issued from October 2025 — the client should know that the result is produced according to a standard withdrawn from the PKN catalogue. Second — isomers and the NDS: the NDS concerns the mixture of the 1,2-, 1,3- and 1,4- isomers; only AB 1642 gives the isomers separately and their sum — for the others the report should state whether the result covers all three isomers. Third — interferences: according to the card the method is not used when the air contains substances with the same or a similar retention time that mask the chromatogram. Fourth — limit of quantification: the card does not give it, so the bottom limits of the laboratories (from 0.0670 mg/m³) cannot be compared with it. Fifth — AB 591 excludes points 8 and 13 for the result per sample and cites them for the concentration from calculation — what these points contain, WE DO NOT GIVE without the text of the standard. Sixth — skin and NDSCh: a measurement in air does not cover absorption through the skin; WE DO NOT GIVE the measurement conditions against the NDSCh of 200 mg/m³.

WHAT WE DO NOT GIVE. We did not have the text of the standard — we do not give the method of sampling and enrichment, the sorbent, the solvent, the column, the detector required by the standard, chromatograph conditions, the limit of quantification or calculations. We do not claim that another standard has replaced PN-Z-04116-01:1978 — PKN names none.

Method principle

Xylene vapours in workplace air are determined by gas chromatography with sample enrichment (title of the standard); according to the card the method is not used when substances with the same or a similar retention time, masking the chromatogram, are present. The result in mg/m³ is compared with the NDS of 100 mg/m³ and the NDSCh of 200 mg/m³ for the mixture of isomers. The standard is withdrawn (10-09-2015); WE DO NOT GIVE details — we did not have the text of the standard.

Applications

• Workplace air — xylene (mixture of isomers) — in the current scopes of 6 laboratories, despite the withdrawal of the standard
• Assessment of occupational exposure against the NDS of 100 mg/m³ and the NDSCh of 200 mg/m³, "skin" notation (Journal of Laws 2026 item 447, item 332 of the list)

Key parameters

Standard

Standard number

PN-Z-04116-01:1978

Title (PL)

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

Title (EN)

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

Step-by-step procedure

1. Status

   PN-Z-04116-01:1978 withdrawn on 10-09-2015, with no named successor (card as of 04.10.2026).

2. Sampling and enrichment

   The sample is enriched (title of the standard); WE DO NOT GIVE the method.

3. Analysis

   Gas chromatography; not in the presence of substances with the same or a similar retention time (PKN card).

4. Result and assessment

   Concentration in mg/m³; comparison with the NDS of 100 mg/m³ and the NDSCh of 200 mg/m³ for the mixture of isomers (Journal of Laws 2026 item 447).

Required equipment and apparatus

Health and safety (OHS)

• TECHNICAL NOTE: standard withdrawn on 10-09-2015; the card gives no limit of quantification; the NDS concerns the mixture of three isomers

Frequently asked questions