Charcoal sampling method for determining the concentration of styrene in air

The vapors of styrene (vinylbenzene) were trapped on charcoal in a glass tube. Air from the worker's breathing zone was sucked through the tube by a battery-operated, modified, MSA personal sampling pump. The sampler and pumping system were worn by the worker. The styrene were eluted with dimethyl formamide and estimated by gas chromatography. The range and sensitivity of the method when sampling with a flow rate of 0.2 1/min during 1 h were 5 to 1,500 ppm, and during 4 h they were 2 to 400 ppm. The recovery (accuracy) was over 90%. The precision for the method, in terms of relative standard deviation, was 8.4%.