🌿 Kerosene vapour in workplace air — gas chromatography, PN-Z-04227-02

Environment PN-92/Z-04227/02

Overview

WHAT THE STANDARD COVERS. The scope from the PKN catalogue card, quoted in full: "The method consists in absorption of kerosene vapour, desorption of the hydrocarbons with carbon disulphide and analysis of the resulting solution by gas chromatography. The smallest amount of kerosene vapour that can be determined by this method is 25 milligrams per cubic metre of air. The method is used for testing air at workplaces when carrying out sanitary and hygienic inspection. Reagents and solutions, apparatus, instruments and materials, preparation of absorption tubes, sampling, chromatographic conditions, preparation of the calibration curve, performance of the determination and calculation of the result are given." The card uses the old Polish name of carbon disulphide (CS₂).

STATUS (state of the card on 28 September 2026). The card carries the heading "Withdrawn" and the row "Date of withdrawal: 27-11-2012". There is no "Superseded by" field — the catalogue indicates no successor — and no "Supersedes" field either. Edition: published 28-09-1992, 3 pages, PKN technical committee KT 159 (Chemical and Dust Hazards in the Working Environment), ICS 13.040.30. Whether another, valid document for kerosene vapour stands in the PKN catalogue today — WE HAVE NOT ESTABLISHED. For kerosene in air, the scopes cite, besides this standard, the laboratories’ own procedures, AB 934 the general entry "Normy, Procedury badawcze" (Standards, test procedures; PCA scope issue 32 of 3 July 2026, p. 34/41), and AB 1642 cites only NIOSH Method 1550 (Issue 2, 15 August 1994; PCA scope issue 23 of 28 July 2026); we found no other PN standard (screening of test names, read on 28 September 2026).

THE LIMIT VALUE AGAINST WHICH THE RESULT IS COMPARED. The Polish list of occupational exposure limits (NDS) — annex to the regulation of 12 June 2018 as worded by the regulation of 26 March 2026 (Journal of Laws 2026, item 447), item 401 "Nafta" (kerosene) [8008-20-6]: NDS (8-hour value) 100 mg/m³, NDSCh (short-term value) 300 mg/m³, no "skin" notation. The lowest determinable concentration given on the card — 25 mg/m³ — is one quarter of the NDS and one twelfth of the NDSCh.

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 04227 with sheet 02 in the reference-document field: 22 entries at 17 laboratories (one scope row of AB 886 is split into three entries in the database). Three forms: "PN-92/Z-04227/02" — 7 laboratories, 9 entries; "PN-Z-04227-02:1992" — 7 laboratories, 8 entries; "PN-92/Z-04227.02" (with a dot) — 4 laboratories, 5 entries; AB 882 uses the first two. The "Laboratories" tab searches for records BEGINNING with "PN-92/Z-04227/02" and will show 7 laboratories in 9 entries. It will not show the other ten: AB 340, AB 562, AB 719, AB 746, AB 940 and AB 1226 (form "PN-Z-04227-02:1992") and AB 522, AB 632, AB 849 and AB 875 (form with a dot). SUSPENSIONS: in the current PCA scopes the items of this standard at AB 522 (scope issue 26 of 18 August 2026) and AB 1226 (issue 26 of 17 September 2026) are suspended at the laboratories’ request — from 18 August 2026 to 14 February 2027 and from 10 June 2026 to 7 December 2026 (footnote "*)" at items set in bold italics; read on 29 September 2026). The numbers above include them.

TECHNIQUE IN THE SCOPES. All 17 laboratories record gas chromatography with a flame ionisation detector (GC-FID); AB 882 has an additional entry with mass spectrometric detection (GC-MS). The test object is workplace air, often with the note "air samples taken on sorbent tubes"; the exception is the AB 940 item "Content of kerosene" (excluding clause 8), which in the PCA scope stands in the block "General environment — waste gas samples taken on sorbent tubes" (issue 21 of 17 September 2026).

THE METHOD LIMIT AND THE LABORATORIES' RANGES — A PLACE FOR A SEEMINGLY CORRECT RESULT. The card gives 25 mg/m³ as the lowest concentration determinable "by this method". In the scopes, 16 laboratories give a range in mg/m³ (including AB 886 — 1.0–1000 mg/m³ according to PCA scope issue 26 of 12 February 2026; in our copy this row is split into three entries and the range in mg/m³ was not preserved) and ALL of them declare a lower limit below it: from 0.35 mg/m³ (AB 849), 0.61 mg/m³ (AB 746) and 0.625 mg/m³ (AB 940) to 10 mg/m³ (AB 632, AB 875 and AB 1226 — item suspended until 7 December 2026). Upper limits run from 150 mg/m³ (AB 849) to 5333 mg/m³ (AB 481). Seven laboratories cite the standard together with their own procedure or instruction (AB 300, AB 481, AB 522, AB 562, AB 719, AB 882, AB 886); AB 481 and AB 940 exclude clause 8 of the standard, and AB 719 cites clause 8 alone together with its own procedure. What the limits lower than the card's value result from — WE HAVE NOT ESTABLISHED; the accreditation scope does not say, and we did not have the text of the standard. For the reader of a test report this means one thing: a result below 25 mg/m³ described only by the number of this standard does not show how the laboratory reached such a limit — that is a question for the laboratory.

WHAT WE DO NOT GIVE. We did not have the text of the standard — PKN supplies it for a fee (3 pages). We do not give the sorbent in the tube, the air volume and flow rate, the chromatographic conditions, the way the calibration curve is prepared, the formula or the precision. What clause 8, excluded or cited separately by three laboratories, contains — WE HAVE NOT ESTABLISHED.

Method principle

According to the card: kerosene vapour from workplace air is trapped in an absorption tube, the hydrocarbons are desorbed with carbon disulphide, and the resulting solution is analysed by gas chromatography; the result is calculated from a calibration curve. The lowest concentration determinable by this method according to the card: 25 mg/m³ of air. The concentration is compared with the kerosene NDS of 100 mg/m³ and NDSCh of 300 mg/m³. We DO NOT GIVE the sampling and chromatographic conditions — we did not have the text of the standard.

Applications

• Measurements of kerosene vapour in workplace air — assessment against NDS 100 mg/m³ and NDSCh 300 mg/m³ (Journal of Laws 2026, item 447, item 401 of the list)
• In accreditation scopes 16 laboratories give the range as a concentration in mg/m³, and 15 give it as the mass of kerosene in the sample (in mg or µg)

Key parameters

Standard

Standard number

PN-Z-04227-02:1992 (wersja polska)

Title (PL)

Ochrona czystości powietrza — Badania zawartości nafty — Oznaczanie par nafty na stanowiskach pracy metodą chromatografii gazowej

Title (EN)

Air purity protection — Tests for kerosene content — Determination of kerosene vapour at workplaces by gas chromatography

Step-by-step procedure

1. Status of the document

   PKN card: standard withdrawn on 27-11-2012, no "Superseded by" field (state of the card on 28 September 2026). In the report give the full designation with the year: PN-Z-04227-02:1992.

2. Air sampling

   Kerosene vapour is trapped in an absorption tube prepared according to the standard. Air volume and flow rate NOT GIVEN.

3. Desorption

   The hydrocarbons retained in the tube are desorbed with carbon disulphide.

4. Chromatographic determination

   The resulting solution is analysed by gas chromatography; the kerosene content is read from the calibration curve. Chromatographic conditions NOT GIVEN.

5. Result and assessment

   The concentration in mg/m³ is compared with NDS 100 mg/m³ and NDSCh 300 mg/m³. A result below 25 mg/m³ lies below the method limit given on the card — check how the laboratory lowered it.

Required equipment and apparatus

Reagents, media and consumables

Health and safety (OHS)

• Carbon disulphide is extremely flammable and harmful to health — it is handled in a fume cupboard, away from ignition sources; its safety data sheet applies
• TECHNICAL NOTE: the lowest determinable concentration according to the card (25 mg/m³) is one quarter of the kerosene NDS; the lower limits declared in the scopes do not follow from the card

Frequently asked questions