🌿 Methyl methacrylate in workplace air — adsorption of vapours on activated charcoal, extraction with carbon disulphide, gas chromatography; limit of quantification of the method according to the standard 10 mg/m³, MAC (NDS) 100 mg/m³, STEL (NDSCh) 300 mg/m³; PN-Z-04113-09:1992 (withdrawn 27-11-2012)

Environment PN-Z-04113-09

Overview

WHAT THE STANDARD COVERS. Scope from the PKN catalogue card, in full (our translation): "The test method consists in adsorption of methacrylate vapours on activated charcoal, extracting it with carbon disulphide and chromatographic analysis of the solution obtained. The limit of quantification of the method is 10 mg in 1 cubic metre of air. The method may be used for determining other acrylic compounds" (no full stop at the end on the card; the card uses the older Polish name "dwusiarczek węgla", our Polish entry uses "disiarczek węgla" as in the NDS list and newer PKN cards). We did not have the text of the standard (3 pages); the CIOP index of methods from 2000–2017 lists no article on methyl methacrylate (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 358: "Methyl methacrylate [80-62-6]" — NDS 100 mg/m³, NDSCh 300 mg/m³, no "skin" notation. The limit of quantification according to the card, 10 mg/m³, is 10 % of the NDS.

STATUS (card as of 04.10.2026). The card of PN-Z-04113-09:1992 (Polish version) has the heading "Withdrawn": published 29-12-1992, withdrawal date 27-11-2012, 3 pages, price group B, Health, Environment and Medicine Sector, KT 159 Chemical and Dust Hazards in the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for "PN-Z-04113" (04.10.2026) shows the whole series "Tests for acrylic compounds content" (parts 00–12) labelled "Withdrawn"; the search for "metakrylanu metylu" returns no current standard for methyl methacrylate at workplaces — of current standards on methacrylates it shows PN-Z-04283:2001 for butyl methacrylate.

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 04113-09 (with a hyphen, full stop or slash before the part number) appears in 11 records at 9 laboratories; in the current PCA documents (read on 03.10.2026; issues from 08.01.2026 to 08.09.2026 — all issued after the withdrawal of the standard) — in 10 rows at the same laboratories (AB 886 has two records in the database copy and one row in PCA); 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-92/Z-04113/09" — 7 laboratories: AB 300 (next to instruction IN-59 ed. 3 of 18.12.2025), AB 632, AB 875, AB 882 (next to procedure PB-01 edition 5 of 12.01.2026), AB 886 (next to procedure PB-02 edition no. 12 of 16.10.2023), AB 1144, AB 1207 (next to procedure PB-06A edition 7 of 20.01.2025); form "PN-Z-04113-09:1992" — AB 1168 and the second item of AB 882 (next to procedure PB-10 edition 1 of 31.08.2022); AB 1642 — "PN-92-Z-04113/09". The "Laboratories" tab finds entries beginning with the query entered: "PN-92/Z-04113/09" shows 7 laboratories, "PN-Z-04113-09" — 2 (AB 882 under both queries), "PN-92-Z-04113/09" — 1, 9 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, samples collected on sorbent tubes or a solid sorbent; at AB 1207 the object recorded in the copy also covers, besides the working environment, samples of ambient air and indoor air. Quantity: concentration (content) of methyl methacrylate. Ranges in mg/m³: 0.10–569 (AB 1642), 0.17–1000 (AB 886 — from the PCA document, one of the records in the copy has no range), 0.33–1700 (AB 1207, GC-MS), 0.56–1667 (AB 300), 1.20–560 (AB 1144), 1.39–600 (AB 1168), 1.62–851 (AB 882, GC-MS), 2.04–1064 (AB 882, GC-FID), 5–560 (AB 875), 10–600 (AB 632). Technique: gas chromatography with flame ionisation detection (GC-FID) — 8 laboratories; gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection (GC-MS) — AB 1207 and the second item of AB 882.

WHERE A SEEMINGLY CORRECT RESULT IS EASY TO GET. First — status: the standard has been withdrawn since 27-11-2012, and the PKN search shows no other standard for methyl methacrylate; 9 laboratories have it in scopes issued in 2026 — the client should know that the result is produced according to a standard withdrawn from the PKN catalogue. Second — limit of quantification: according to the card the limit of quantification of the method is 10 mg/m³; only AB 632 states this bottom limit, the other laboratories state a lower one (from 0.10 to 5 mg/m³), which requires conditions different from those in the standard — the report should name them. Third — "other acrylic compounds": the card allows the method to be used for other acrylic compounds, but all 11 items in the database copy concern methyl methacrylate; on what conditions the standard allows other compounds, WE DO NOT GIVE. Fourth — detector: the GC-MS items (AB 1207 with PB-06A, AB 882 with PB-10) are performed according to in-house procedures, with the standard next to them. Fifth — object: at AB 1207 the same item also covers ambient and indoor air, for which the NDS is not a reference value. Sixth — searching: the entries "PN-92/Z-04113/09" and "PN-92-Z-04113/09" are not found under the query "PN-Z-04113-09".

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 tube and mass of charcoal, the column, the detector required by the standard, chromatograph conditions, desorption efficiency or calculations. We do not claim that another standard has replaced PN-Z-04113-09:1992 — PKN names none.

Method principle

Methyl methacrylate vapours from workplace air are adsorbed on activated charcoal, extracted with carbon disulphide, and the solution obtained is analysed by chromatography; the result in mg/m³ is compared with the NDS of 100 mg/m³ and the NDSCh of 300 mg/m³. Limit of quantification of the method according to the card — 10 mg/m³. The standard is withdrawn (27-11-2012); WE DO NOT GIVE details — we did not have the text of the standard.

Applications

• Workplace air — methyl methacrylate — in the current scopes of 9 laboratories, despite the withdrawal of the standard
• Assessment of occupational exposure against the NDS of 100 mg/m³ and the NDSCh of 300 mg/m³ (Journal of Laws 2026 item 447, item 358 of the list)

Key parameters

Standard

Standard number

PN-Z-04113-09:1992

Title (PL)

Ochrona czystości powietrza — Badania zawartości związków akrylowych — Oznaczanie metakrylanu metylu na stanowiskach pracy metodą chromatografii gazowej

Title (EN)

Air purity protection — Tests for acrylic compounds content — Determination of methyl methacrylate at workplaces by gas chromatography

Step-by-step procedure

1. Status

   PN-Z-04113-09:1992 withdrawn on 27-11-2012, with no named successor (card as of 04.10.2026).

2. Sampling

   Adsorption of vapours on activated charcoal; WE DO NOT GIVE details.

3. Extraction and analysis

   Extraction with carbon disulphide, chromatographic analysis; WE DO NOT GIVE conditions.

4. Result and assessment

   Concentration in mg/m³; comparison with the NDS of 100 mg/m³ and the NDSCh of 300 mg/m³ (Journal of Laws 2026 item 447); limit of quantification 10 mg/m³.

Required equipment and apparatus

Reagents, media and consumables

Health and safety (OHS)

• Carbon disulphide as extractant — work in a fume hood, chemical laboratory safety rules
• TECHNICAL NOTE: standard withdrawn on 27-11-2012; a bottom limit below 10 mg/m³ requires conditions different from those in the standard

Frequently asked questions