🌿 2-Butoxyethyl acetate in workplace air — adsorption on activated carbon, desorption with carbon disulfide, gas chromatography, PN-Z-04304

Environment PN-Z-04304

Overview

WHAT THE STANDARD COVERS. Scope from the PKN card, in full (our translation): "A method is given consisting in the adsorption of 2-butoxyethyl acetate vapours on activated carbon, desorption of the compound with carbon disulfide and analysis of the resulting solution by gas chromatography. The lowest concentration of 2-butoxyethyl acetate that can be determined by this method is 5 mg/m3". The card does not give the detector, the air volume and flow, the column or the calibration. We did not have the text of the standard (7 pages).

LIMIT VALUES. According to the regulation of the Minister of Family, Labour and Social Policy of 26 March 2026 (Journal of Laws 2026, item 447, annex, item 424), for 2-butoxyethyl acetate [112-07-2] the NDS is 100 mg/m³ and the NDSCh 300 mg/m³, with the "skin" notation.

STATUS (state of the card on 29 September 2026). The card of PN-Z-04304:2003 (Polish version) has no "Withdrawn" header — the standard is CURRENT: published 28-10-2003, 7 pages, price group D, Health, Environment and Medicine Sector, KT 159 for Chemical and Dust Hazards in the Working Environment, ICS 13.040.30; a national standard, without "Introduces" and "Replaces" fields. The PKN search for "PN-Z-04304" (29 September 2026) shows only this one edition.

HOW MANY LABORATORIES AND IN WHAT FORM (copy of the accreditation-scope database, data loaded up to 17 September 2026, read on 29 September 2026). All notations of number 04304: 13 entries at 11 laboratories (the copy splits the entry of AB 1144 into two records); everywhere "PN-Z-04304:2003". A procedure alongside the standard — AB 300 (IN-59 issue 3 of 18.12.2025), AB 882 (PB-01 issue 5 of 12.01.2026 and PB-10 issue 1 of 31.08.2022) and AB 1207 (PB-06A issue 7 of 20.01.2025 and PB-06L issue 4 of 5.01.2026 — in an entry for volatile organic compounds together with 2-butoxyethanol). The "Laboratories" tab searches for notations BEGINNING WITH "PN-Z-04304" and will show all 11 laboratories — checked with the tab query on the labcoda.pl production server on 30 September 2026: 11. Current scopes on the PCA website (read on 29 September 2026, issues from 26.11.2025 to 08.09.2026): all entries stand in the valid issues, every pair of range numbers from the copy occurs in the current document and no entry is suspended (in the scope of AB 746 the suspension footnote concerns other entries).

SUBJECT, TECHNIQUE AND RANGES. Workplace air — all 11 laboratories; AB 1207 also ambient and indoor air. Samples on tubes with activated carbon (AB 647, AB 1207), with "sorbent" or "solid sorbent" (AB 300, AB 632, AB 746, AB 886, AB 1144, AB 1642). Technique: GC-FID — 10 laboratories; GC-MS — AB 1207 (both entries) and the second entry of AB 882. Concentration ranges: lower limits from 0.050 mg/m³ (AB 1642) and 0.062 mg/m³ (AB 746) to 9.0 mg/m³ (AB 647) and 10 mg/m³ (AB 632); upper limits from 300 mg/m³ (AB 886) to 1028 mg/m³ (AB 882) and 1200 mg/m³ (AB 1207); AB 869 gives only the mass in the sample, (0.01 - 5) mg. According to the card the lowest determinable concentration is 5 mg/m³ — 8 of the 10 laboratories giving a concentration range have a lower limit below it (all except AB 632 and AB 647).

ALONGSIDE THIS STANDARD. 2-Butoxyethyl acetate in workplace air is determined without this standard by 10 laboratories — by in-house procedures: AB 481 (TSO/PB-08), AB 489 (PB-30 issue 5 of 28.01.2026, (7.5 – 612.0) mg/m³), AB 719 (PA-16; GC-MS identification according to PA-52), AB 802 (PB-06/09, (0.694 – 600) mg/m³), AB 849 (PB-29), AB 863 (PB-07), AB 875 (PB 025, (10 - 1000) mg/m³), AB 940 (PB-17 and PB-23) and AB 1183 (PB-02, (2.86 – 600) mg/m³), and in a flexible scope — AB 934 ("Standards, Test procedures"); AB 647 and AB 869 also have this substance in multi-compound entries according to procedures (PB-14, EKOLAB/LB/PB-08) alongside their own entries with this standard. All these rows stand in the current PCA scopes without suspension (read on 29–30 September 2026). In waste gases 2-butoxyethyl acetate is determined according to PN-EN 13649:2005 — 11 laboratories (at AB 719 "excluding points 5 and 6"). The same scopes contain PN-Z-04119-10 (2-methoxy-1-methylethyl acetate — at 10 of these 11 laboratories), PN-Z-04449 (butan-2-one — at 8), PN-Z-04178-02 (vinyl acetate — at 7) and PN-Z-04372 (4-methylpentan-2-one — at 7) — each of them has a separate entry in the Knowledge Base.

WHERE A SEEMINGLY CORRECT RESULT IS EASY TO GET. The card gives a determinability of 5 mg/m³ for the conditions described in the standard, while 8 of 10 laboratories start their range lower, even at 0.050 mg/m³ — a result from the lower part of such a range relies on the laboratory's conditions (air volume, detector, procedure), not on the standard itself; it is worth asking about the limit of quantification and the document. Second, the card does not determine the detector, and the scopes give FID or mass spectrometry — in multi-compound entries (AB 1207, PB-06L) 2-butoxyethyl acetate is determined together with 2-butoxyethanol, so the report has to distinguish the two compounds. Third, the "skin" notation in the NDS list concerns absorption through the skin — measuring the concentration in air does not cover this route of exposure.

WHAT WE DO NOT GIVE. We did not have the text of the standard — PKN makes it available for a fee (7 pages). We do not give the air volume and flow, the amount of carbon, the desorption procedure beyond the solvent, the column and separation conditions, the detector, calibration, formula or precision.

Method principle

According to the PKN card, 2-butoxyethyl acetate vapours from workplace air are adsorbed on activated carbon, the compound is desorbed with carbon disulfide and the resulting solution is analysed by gas chromatography; the lowest determinable concentration is 5 mg/m³. We DO NOT GIVE the air volume, separation conditions or detector — we did not have the text of the standard.

Applications

• 2-Butoxyethyl acetate in workplace air — in the scopes of 11 laboratories (NDS 100 mg/m³, NDSCh 300 mg/m³, "skin")
• Ambient and indoor air — AB 1207 (GC-MS)

Key parameters

Standard

Standard number

PN-Z-04304:2003 (wersja polska)

Title (PL)

Ochrona czystości powietrza — Oznaczanie octanu 2-butoksyetylu na stanowiskach pracy metodą chromatografii gazowej

Title (EN)

Air purity protection — Determination of 2-butoxyethyl acetate at workplaces by gas chromatography

Step-by-step procedure

1. Document status

   PKN card: PN-Z-04304:2003 current (state of the card on 29 September 2026).

2. Sampling

   Adsorption of the vapours on activated carbon; we DO NOT GIVE the air volume and flow.

3. Desorption

   With carbon disulfide (PKN card); we DO NOT GIVE the solvent volume or time.

4. Analysis

   Gas chromatography; lowest determinable concentration 5 mg/m³; in the scopes — FID or MS.

5. Result

   Concentration in mg/m³ for comparison with NDS 100 mg/m³ and NDSCh 300 mg/m³; we DO NOT GIVE the formula.

Required equipment and apparatus

Reagents, media and consumables

Health and safety (OHS)

• Carbon disulfide is extremely flammable and toxic — desorption in an efficient fume hood, away from ignition sources; 2-butoxyethyl acetate is absorbed through the skin ("skin" notation)
• SUBSTANTIVE NOTE: the card gives a determinability of 5 mg/m³, while most laboratories start their range lower — when ordering a test, ask about the limit of quantification, the detector and the document

Frequently asked questions