This document specifies a sampling method to determine the quantity of formaldehyde (HCHO) in the air with the range of approximately 1 µg/m³ to 1 mg/m³ in a time-weighted average (TWA) sample, for long-term (1 h to 24 h) and short-term (5 min to 60 min) sampling. This method involves the collection of compounds from air on to adsorbent cartridges coated with 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH) and subsequent analysis of the hydrazones formed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with detection by ultraviolet absorption  [7] [8].

This document can also be applied for the determination of at least 12 other aromatic as well as saturated and unsaturated aliphatic carbonyl compounds (aldehydes and ketones), with modification, such as:

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acetaldehyde;

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acetone;

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benzaldehyde;

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butyraldehyde;

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capronaldehyde;

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2,5-dimethylbenzaldehyde;

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formaldehyde;

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isovaleraldehyde;

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propionaldehyde;

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m-tolualdehyde;

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o-tolualdehyde;

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p-tolualdehyde;

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valeraldehyde.

This document does not apply to longer chained or unsaturated carbonyl compounds such as acrolein. An alternative sampling method using sorbent tubes and analysis by thermal desorption using gas chromatography with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is given in Annex A.