Detection of traces of formaldehyde in pure air by gas chromatography and helium ionization detection

The sensitive helium ionization detector (HID) was used for the direct determination of ppm to ppb levels of formaldehyde in air. Two methods to generate formaldehyde in an air stream were evaluated. The first method utilized a paraformaldehyde permeation tube and the second utilized a motor driven syringe and a dilute solution of formaldehyde. The two methods were evaluated using gas chromatography with HID and spectrophotometry. The paraformaldehyde permeation tube generates only about 60% of the theoretical value, while the motor driven syringe was accurate for levels below 2 ppm; however, at a concentration of 13 ppm or above, oligomers or other chemical forms of CH2O are formed to decrease the concentration of gaseous CH2O produced.