🌿 Tetrachloroethene (tetrachloroethylene) in workplace air — gas chromatography with sample enrichment using cumene; MAC (NDS) 85 mg/m³ (12.3 ppm), STEL (NDSCh) 170 mg/m³, "skin" notation; PN-Z-04118-02:1983 (withdrawn 10-09-2015)

Environment PN-Z-04118-02

Overview

WHAT THE STANDARD COVERS. Scope from the PKN catalogue card, in full (our translation): "The method is used for determining the concentration of tetrachloroethylene vapours in workplace air when checking sanitary and hygienic conditions." The title adds that it is gas chromatography "with sample enrichment using cumene". The card gives no limit of quantification. We did not have the text of the standard (3 pages); the CIOP index of methods from 2000–2017 lists no article on tetrachloroethene (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 512: "Tetrachloroethene [127-18-4]" — NDS 85 mg/m³ (12.3 ppm), NDSCh 170 mg/m³ (24.6 ppm), "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 The card of PN-Z-04118-02:1983 (Polish version) has the heading "Withdrawn": published 27-04-1983, withdrawal date 10-09-2015, 3 pages, price group B, Health, Environment and Medicine Sector, KT 159 Chemical and Dust Hazards in the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 The PKN search for "PN-Z-04118" and "czterochloroetylenu" (04.10.2026) shows three parts of the series, all labelled "Withdrawn": PN-Z-04118-00:1978 (general provisions and scope of the standard), PN-Z-04118-01:1978 (gas chromatography "without sample enrichment and with enrichment using carbon disulphide") and PN-Z-04118-02:1983; the search for "tetrachloroetenu" returns no standard.

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 04118-02 (with a hyphen, full stop or slash before the part number) appears in 8 records at 7 laboratories; in the current PCA documents (read on 03.10.2026; issues from 24.11.2025 to 30.07.2026 — 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. Old form "PN-83/Z-04118/02" — AB 647, AB 875, AB 1144, AB 1302, AB 1207 (next to procedure PB-06A edition 7 of 20.01.2025) and AB 882 (next to procedure PB-01 edition 5 of 12.01.2026 and method OSHA 1001:1999); form "PN-Z-04118-02:1983" — AB 562 (next to procedure PB_42 edition 5 of 16.08.2022) and the second item of AB 882 (next to procedure PB-10 edition 1 of 31.08.2022). The "Laboratories" tab finds entries beginning with the query entered: "PN-83/Z-04118/02" shows 6 laboratories, "PN-Z-04118-02" — 2 (AB 882 under both queries), 7 in total, the same in the copy and on the production server labcoda.pl (tab queries of 04.10.2026). Part PN-Z-04118-01:1978 appears in the database copy in 13 records at 11 other laboratories — no laboratory cites both parts; part 01 is described in a separate entry of this database (tetrachloroethene in workplace air — gas chromatography without sample enrichment and with enrichment using carbon disulphide).

WHAT THE LABORATORIES TEST (database copy). Object: working environment — air, at some laboratories samples collected on activated charcoal tubes, 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 tetrachloroethene. Ranges in mg/m³: 0.33–2700 (AB 1207, GC-MS), 1.11–340 (AB 1302), 1.70–400 (AB 1144), 2.09–3036 (AB 882, GC-FID), 2.35–591 (AB 882, GC-MS), 4.5–428 (AB 647), 5–1000 (AB 875), 5–4000 (AB 562); 6 laboratories also give a range in ppm. Technique: gas chromatography with flame ionisation detection (GC-FID) — 6 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 10-09-2015, and the PKN search shows no other standard for tetrachloroethene; 7 laboratories have it in scopes issued from November 2025 — the client should know that the result is produced according to a standard withdrawn from the PKN catalogue. Second — which part: according to its title part 02 enriches the sample with cumene, part 01 — with carbon disulphide, or works without enrichment; the report should cite the part that was actually followed. Third — limit of quantification: the card does not give it, so the bottom limits of the laboratories (from 0.33 mg/m³) cannot be compared with it. Fourth — documents next to the standard: AB 882 combines the standard with in-house procedure PB-01 and method OSHA 1001:1999, AB 562 — with PB_42, AB 1207 — with PB-06A; the GC-MS items (AB 1207, second item of AB 882) are performed according to in-house procedures. Fifth — 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 170 mg/m³.

WHAT WE DO NOT GIVE. We did not have the text of the standard — we do not give the sampling method, the sorbent, the method of enrichment with cumene, the column, the detector required by the standard, chromatograph conditions, the limit of quantification or calculations; we did not read the content of method OSHA 1001. We do not claim that another standard has replaced PN-Z-04118-02:1983 — PKN names none.

Method principle

Tetrachloroethylene (tetrachloroethene) vapours in workplace air are determined by gas chromatography with sample enrichment using cumene (title of the standard); the result in mg/m³ is compared with the NDS of 85 mg/m³ and the NDSCh of 170 mg/m³. The card gives no limit of quantification. The standard is withdrawn (10-09-2015); WE DO NOT GIVE details — we did not have the text of the standard.

Applications

• Workplace air — tetrachloroethene (tetrachloroethylene) — in the current scopes of 7 laboratories, despite the withdrawal of the standard
• Assessment of occupational exposure against the NDS of 85 mg/m³ (12.3 ppm) and the NDSCh of 170 mg/m³ (24.6 ppm), "skin" notation (Journal of Laws 2026 item 447, item 512 of the list)

Key parameters

Standard

Standard number

PN-Z-04118-02:1983

Title (PL)

Ochrona czystości powietrza — Badania zawartości czterochloroetylenu — Oznaczanie czterochloroetylenu na stanowiskach pracy metodą chromatografii gazowej z wzbogacaniem próbki przy użyciu kumenu

Title (EN)

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

Step-by-step procedure

1. Status

   PN-Z-04118-02:1983 withdrawn on 10-09-2015, with no named successor (card as of 04.10.2026).

2. Sample enrichment

   Using cumene (title of the standard); WE DO NOT GIVE the method.

3. Analysis

   Gas chromatography; WE DO NOT GIVE conditions.

4. Result and assessment

   Concentration in mg/m³; comparison with the NDS of 85 mg/m³ and the NDSCh of 170 mg/m³ (Journal of Laws 2026 item 447).

Required equipment and apparatus

Reagents, media and consumables

Health and safety (OHS)

• Cumene and tetrachloroethene — work in a fume hood, chemical laboratory safety rules
• TECHNICAL NOTE: standard withdrawn on 10-09-2015; the card gives no limit of quantification; part 02 (cumene) and part 01 (carbon disulphide) are different methods

Frequently asked questions