🌿 Trichloroethene (trichloroethylene) in workplace air — activated carbon, cumene, gas chromatography with sample enrichment; MAC (NDS) 50 mg/m³, STEL (NDSCh) 100 mg/m³, "skin"; PN-Z-04047-03:1983 (withdrawn 10-09-2015)

Environment PN-Z-04047-03

Overview

WHAT THE STANDARD COVERS. Scope from the PKN card, in full: "A method is given consisting in the adsorption of trichloroethylene vapour on activated carbon, its extraction with cumene and chromatographic analysis of the solution obtained. The method is used to determine the concentration of trichloroethylene vapour in the air at workplaces. The apparatus, instruments, chromatograph operating conditions, preparation of reagents and solutions for the determination, preparation of the calibration curve, air sampling and determination of the desorption coefficient are given" (our translation; spelling as on the card, no full stop at the end). The card does not give the limit of quantification, the detector or the air volume. We did not have the text of the standard (3 pages); the CIOP method index for 2000–2017 lists no article on trichloroethene (searched on 05.10.2026 — it lists 1,1-dichloroethene and 1,1,2-trichloroethane).

NDS VALUES (list in the annex to the regulation of 26 March 2026, Journal of Laws 2026 item 447). Item 544: "Trichloroethene [79-01-6]" — NDS 50 mg/m³ (9.17 ppm), NDSCh 100 mg/m³ (18.34 ppm), "skin" notation, no note on the fraction; the substance is not covered by the transitional provisions of § 2.

STATUS (cards as of 05.10.2026). The card of PN-Z-04047-03:1983 (Polish version) has the heading "Withdrawn" without naming a replacing standard: publication 03-05-1983, withdrawal date 10-09-2015, 3 pages, price group B, Health, Environment and Medicine Sector, KT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. PKN search (05.10.2026): under "PN-Z-04047" — 5 items of the series "Tests for trichloroethylene content" (-00:1974, -01:1974, -02:1978, -03:1983) and PN-Z-04047:1957, all labelled "Withdrawn"; under "trójchloroetylenu" — 8 items, all labelled "Withdrawn" (besides the series also PN-Z-04237:1994 on ambient air and two standards on water and wastewater); under "trichloroetylenu" — 2 current standards on water and wastewater (PN-C-04549-1 and -2:1999); under "trichloroetenu" — no results. The search returns no current standard for trichloroethene at workplaces. Part -02:1978 of this series (two gas chromatography methods) is described in a separate entry of this database.

HOW MANY LABORATORIES AND IN WHAT FORM (copy of the accreditation scope database, data up to 17.09.2026, read on 05.10.2026). Number 04047-03 appears in 3 records at 3 laboratories; in the current PCA documents (read on 03.10.2026; issues from 24.11.2025 to 23.07.2026) — in 3 rows at the same laboratories; a search of all PCA documents downloaded from the BIP found no laboratories outside the database copy; no entry is suspended and no pages are repeated in any document. Notations: "PN-Z-04047-03:1983" — AB 562 (alongside procedure PB_42 edition 5 of 2022-08-16) and AB 882 (alongside procedure PB-10 issue 1 of 31.08.2022); "PN-83/Z-04047/03" — AB 1144. The "Laboratories" tab searches for records beginning with the term entered: "PN-Z-04047-03" shows 2 laboratories, "PN-83/Z-04047/03" — 1, 3 in total — the same in the copy and on the labcoda.pl production server (tab queries on 05.10.2026). None of these 3 laboratories cites part -02:1978, which is in the scopes of 9 other laboratories.

WHAT THE LABORATORIES TEST (database copy and PCA documents). Subject: working environment — air; AB 1144 — samples collected on a solid sorbent, AB 882 — air samples. Quantity: concentration (content) of trichloroethene; AB 882 adds "(trichloroethylene)". Ranges: AB 1144 — 0.340–240 mg/m³ (0.0100–0.60 mg per sample); AB 882 — 1.21–613 mg/m³ (0.006–3.1 mg per sample); AB 562 — 5–4000 mg/m³. Technique: gas chromatography with flame ionisation detection (GC-FID) — AB 562 and AB 1144; gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection (GC-MS) — AB 882, according to procedure PB-10 with the standard alongside.

WHERE A SEEMINGLY CORRECT RESULT IS EASY TO GET. First — status: the standard has been withdrawn since 10-09-2015 with no successor; all three laboratories have it in scopes issued after the withdrawal — the report should state explicitly that the standard has been withdrawn from the PKN catalogue. Second — two parts of one series: -02:1978 and -03:1983 are different methods (the card of -03 gives cumene for extraction); the part number in the report determines which method was used. Third — detector: AB 882 uses GC-MS according to its own procedure, with the standard alongside; the card does not give the detector, so it cannot be established from it whether this is a deviation. Fourth — limit of quantification: the card does not give it, so the laboratories' ranges (from 0.340 mg/m³) cannot be compared with it. Fifth — skin: according to footnote 4 of the list, with the "skin" notation absorption through the skin "may be as significant as in exposure by inhalation" (our translation) — a measurement in air does not cover this route.

WHAT WE DO NOT GIVE. We did not have the text of the standard — we do not give the limit of quantification, the volume or flow rate of the air sample, the amount of carbon, the volume of cumene, the detector, the column, the chromatograph conditions, the way the desorption coefficient is determined or the calculations, although the card says the standard contains them.

Method principle

Trichloroethylene (trichloroethene) vapour from workplace air is adsorbed on activated carbon, extracted with cumene and the solution obtained is analysed chromatographically (PKN card); the standard also gives the calibration curve and the determination of the desorption coefficient. The result in mg/m³ is compared with the NDS of 50 mg/m³ and the NDSCh of 100 mg/m³ (Journal of Laws 2026 item 447). The standard has been withdrawn with no successor.

Applications

• Workplace air — trichloroethene — in the current scopes of 3 laboratories despite the withdrawal of the standard (part -02:1978 — at 9 others)
• Assessment of occupational exposure against the NDS of 50 mg/m³ and the NDSCh of 100 mg/m³, with the "skin" notation (Journal of Laws 2026 item 447, item 544 of the list)

Key parameters

Standard

Standard number

PN-Z-04047-03:1983

Title (PL)

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

Title (EN)

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

Step-by-step procedure

1. Sampling

   Adsorption of trichloroethylene vapour on activated carbon (PKN card); WE DO NOT GIVE the volume and flow rate.

2. Extraction

   Extraction with cumene; the standard gives the determination of the desorption coefficient (PKN card); WE DO NOT GIVE details.

3. Analysis

   Chromatographic analysis of the solution with a calibration curve (PKN card); WE DO NOT GIVE the conditions.

4. Result and assessment

   Concentration of trichloroethene in mg/m³; comparison with the NDS of 50 mg/m³ and the NDSCh of 100 mg/m³ (Journal of Laws 2026 item 447).

Required equipment and apparatus

Reagents, media and consumables

Health and safety (OHS)

• Trichloroethene and cumene — safety rules of the chemical laboratory
• TECHNICAL NOTE: standard withdrawn since 10-09-2015 with no successor; parts -02 and -03 of the PN-Z-04047 series are different methods

Frequently asked questions