DETERMINATION OF VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS (VOCs) IN INDOOR WORKING ENVIRONMENTS BY HEAD SPACE SOLID PHASE MICROEXTRACTION GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY - MASS SPECTROMETRY ANALYSIS

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are emitted into the atmosphere from natural and anthropogenic sources; therefore, it is critical to study these compounds and monitor them by developing reliable and effective methods[1,2]. In this work, an untargeted volatolomic approach is proposed for the evaluation of the exposure to volatile organic compounds of workers in an engine manufacturing plant in Southern Italy. Indoor working environment conditions were studied in different areas and in different work stages, to assess the respective risks. Occupational exposure to VOCs was evaluated by GC-MS measurements coupled with Head-Space Solid-Phase Microextraction (HS-SPME). The analytical procedure was optimized in terms of SPME fiber, adsorption time, desorption time, and temperature gradient. For the microextraction of VOCs, the SPME fibers were exposed to the headspace in two different areas of the manufacturing factory, i.e., in the mixing painting chamber and the engine painting area. Moreover, the sampling was carried out with the painting system active and running (system on) and with the painting system switched off (system off). Overall, a total of 212 compounds were identified, but only 17 compounds were always present, in both zones (mixing painting chamber and engine painting area), regardless of system conditions (on or off). Finally, a semi-quantitative evaluation was performed considering the peak area value of the potentially most toxic compounds by multivariate data analyses (ANOVA and Principal Component Analysis) to explore differences in the VOC composition. References: 1. Huang, C., Shan, W., & Xiao, H., Aerosol and Air Quality Research, 18 (2018) 602-622. 2. Snow, N. H., & Slack, G. C., Trends in Analytical Chemistry 21 (2002) 608-617.