Date of Award

3-14-2014

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Industrial Hygiene

Department

Department of Systems Engineering and Management

First Advisor

Dirk P. Yamamoto, PhD.

Abstract

During this study, a field evaluation of a new sampling method using di-n-butylamine for the determination of airborne monomeric and oligomeric 1,6-hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI) was performed. The Supelco ASSET EZ4-NCO Dry Sampler was compared to the Omega Specialty Instrument Co. ISO-CHEK sampler. Three specific questions were addressed: 1) can HDI oligomers be quantified using HPLC-MS; 2) do ASSET and ISO-CHEK samplers collect equivalent HDI monomer & oligomer concentrations; and 3) what is the relative cost of ASSET samplers verse ISO-CHEK. Side-by-side HDI air sampling was conducted during polyurethane spray painting operations. ASSET samplers were analyzed by HPLC-MS for HDI monomer and oligomers, including biuret and isocyanurate. The ASSET sampler collected significantly higher levels of HDI monomers, indicating ISO-CHEK samplers potentially underestimate true monomer exposures. HDI oligomer results were inconclusive. Finally, the analytical cost for the ASSET sampler was determined to be 50 percent less than ISO-CHEK resulting in a cost savings of $32 K over 5 years.

AFIT Designator

AFIT-ENV-14-M-29

DTIC Accession Number

ADA599663

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