The interference of tetrachloromethane in the measurement of benzene in the air by a gas chromatography–photoionisation detector (GC-PID)

Abstract

The European Union requires that benzene in the air is continuously measured due to its toxicity and widespread presence in the population nuclei, mainly motivated by vehicle emissions. The reference measuring technique is gas chromatography (GC). Automatic chromatographs used in monitoring stations must verify the operating conditions established in Standard EN 14662 part 3, which includes a type approval section with a number of tests that analysers must pass. Among these tests, the potential interference of a number of compounds is evaluated. The 2005 version of the mentioned standard requires the evaluation of the potential interference of tetrachloromethane (TCM). The 2015 version eliminates TCM as a potential interferent. Although most consumer uses of TCM have been banned, recent studies have measured significant concentrations of TCM in the air. In this paper, the potential interference of TCM in benzene measurements obtained with gas chromatography coupled to a photoionisation detector (GC-PID) has been investigated. Our study shows that the simultaneous presence of benzene and TCM causes a significant decrease in benzene readings. For TCM concentrations of 0.7 µg m−3 (typical of urban areas) and 4.5 µg m−3 (detected in the vicinity of landfills), the relative errors in benzene measurements were 34 % and 70 %, respectively, which are far too high compared to the maximum overall uncertainty allowed for benzene measurements (25 %). Possible mechanisms to qualitatively and quantitatively explain the behaviour of the PID when measuring benzene with and without TCM have been proposed.