🌿 Toluene in workplace air — gas chromatography: a) without sample enrichment, b) with sample enrichment; not applicable in the presence of substances with the same or similar retention time; MAC (NDS) 100 mg/m³, STEL (NDSCh) 200 mg/m³, "skin" notation; PN-Z-04115-01:1978 (withdrawn 10-09-2015)

Environment PN-Z-04115-01

Overview

WHAT THE STANDARD COVERS. Scope from the PKN catalogue card, in full (our translation): "The subject of the standard is the determination of toluene in workplace air by the methods of: a) gas chromatography without sample enrichment, b) gas chromatography with sample enrichment. The methods are used to determine the concentration of toluene vapours in workplace air when checking sanitary and hygienic conditions. These methods should not be used in the presence of substances with the same or similar retention time as toluene, masking the chromatogram of the substance determined." The card does not give the lowest determinable concentration or the enrichment procedure. We did not have the text of the standard (4 pages). The CIOP index of methods from 2000–2017 lists toluene in the collective article "Benzene, cyclohexane, ethylbenzene, n-hexane, methylcyclohexane, toluene – no. 1(67) 2011"; we did not read that article and give nothing from it.

NDS VALUES (list in the annex to the regulation of 26 March 2026, Journal of Laws 2026 item 447). Item 533: "Toluene [108-88-3]" — 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 (cards as of 04.10.2026). The card of PN-Z-04115-01:1978 (Polish version) has the heading "Withdrawn": published 29-11-1978, withdrawal date 10-09-2015, 4 pages, price group B, Health, Environment and Medicine Sector, KT 159 Chemical and Dust Hazards in the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 indicate a replacing standard. The part PN-Z-04115-00:1978 (general provisions and scope) is also withdrawn — card: withdrawn 23-08-2007, 1 page, KT 280 Air Quality. The PKN search for "PN-Z-04115" and "toluenu" (toluene) (04.10.2026) returns no current standard for toluene in workplaces; among current standards mentioning toluene it shows PN-Z-04016-7:1999 for benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes in waste gases (not for 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 04115-01 (with a hyphen, full stop or slash before the part number, also with spaces) appears in 11 records at 9 laboratories; in the current PCA documents (read on 03.10.2026; issues from 29.07.2025 to 18.08.2026 — all issued after the withdrawal of the standard) — in 11 rows at the same laboratories; a search of all PCA documents downloaded from the BIP with the same pattern found no laboratories outside the database copy; no item is suspended and no document repeats pages. Form "PN-Z-04115-01:1978" — AB 340, AB 882 (next to procedure PB-10 edition 1 of 31.08.2022), AB 1168 and AB 1197; old form "PN-78/Z-04115/01" — AB 630, AB 647, AB 663 (next to instruction IB-2 edition 5 of 24.04.2025) and the second item of AB 882 (next to procedure PB-01 edition 5 of 12.01.2026); "PN-78/Z-04115.01" — AB 622; AB 591 — "PN-78/Z -04115/01 z wył. pkt.2.2.7 i pkt. 2.2.12" (excluding clauses 2.2.7 and 2.2.12; result per sample) and "PN-78/ Z -04115/01 pkt.2.2.7 i pkt.2.2.12" (clauses 2.2.7 and 2.2.12; calculated concentration). The "Laboratories" tab searches for entries beginning with the query typed: "PN-Z-04115-01" shows 4 laboratories, "PN-78/Z-04115/01" — 4 (AB 882 under both queries), "PN-78/Z-04115.01" — 1, "PN-78/Z -04115/01" and "PN-78/ Z -04115/01" — 1 each (both AB 591), 9 in total, the same in the copy and on the production server labcoda.pl (tab queries on 04.10.2026).

WHAT THE LABORATORIES TEST (database copy). Object: working environment — air, at some laboratories air samples collected on tubes (AB 591, AB 630, AB 647). Quantity: concentration (content) of toluene. Ranges in mg/m³: 0.15–200 (AB 663), 0.83–1346.0 (AB 340), 1.39–400 (AB 1168), 1.56–807 (AB 882, GC-MS), 1.79–1200 (AB 630), 2.0–4134 (AB 882, GC-FID), 2.4–628 (AB 622), 2.6–400 (AB 591, calculated), 8.3–700 (AB 647), 10–200 (AB 1197); per sample, among others, 0.050–5.7 mg (AB 591), 0.050–6.000 mg (AB 630), 0.15–5 mg (AB 647). Technique: gas chromatography with flame ionisation detection (GC-FID) — all 9 laboratories (at AB 591 no technique is given for the calculated item); AB 882 additionally 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 current standard for toluene in workplaces; 9 laboratories have it in scopes issued since July 2025 — the customer should know that the result is produced according to a standard withdrawn from the PKN catalogue. Second — which of the two methods: the standard contains a method without enrichment and one with enrichment; AB 591 excludes clauses 2.2.7 and 2.2.12 for the item with the result per sample, and cites exactly these clauses for the calculated concentration — what they contain WE DO NOT GIVE without the text of the standard; the other laboratories do not indicate the method. Third — interferences: according to the card the methods are not applied when substances with the same or similar retention time, masking the chromatogram, are present in the air. Fourth — limit of quantification: the card does not give it, so the laboratories' ranges cannot be compared with it. Fifth — detector: AB 882 has two items — GC-MS according to the in-house procedure PB-10 and GC-FID according to PB-01, both with the standard next to them. Sixth — searching: the old notations "PN-78/Z-04115/01", "PN-78/Z-04115.01" and notations with spaces ("PN-78/Z -04115/01") are not found under the query "PN-Z-04115-01" — each form has to be typed separately.

WHAT WE DO NOT GIVE. We did not have the text of the standard — we do not give the sampling method, air volume, enrichment procedure, column, detector required by the standard, chromatograph conditions, limit of quantification or calculations. We do not claim that another standard has replaced PN-Z-04115-01:1978 — PKN indicates none.

Method principle

Toluene vapours in workplace air are determined by gas chromatography — according to the card of the standard by a method without sample enrichment or with enrichment; the methods are not applied when substances with the same or 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. The standard is withdrawn (10-09-2015); WE DO NOT GIVE details — we did not have the text of the standard.

Applications

• Workplace air — toluene — 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 200 mg/m³, "skin" notation (Journal of Laws 2026 item 447, item 533 of the list)

Key parameters

Standard

Standard number

PN-Z-04115-01:1978

Title (PL)

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

Title (EN)

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

Step-by-step procedure

1. Status

   PN-Z-04115-01:1978 withdrawn 10-09-2015, no successor indicated (card as of 04.10.2026).

2. Choice of method

   Method a) without enrichment or b) with sample enrichment; WE DO NOT GIVE details.

3. Analysis

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

Frequently asked questions