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作業環境中環氧乙烷採樣分析方法之建立與運用

The Development and Application of a Sampling and Analytical Method for Ethylene Oxide

摘要


環氧乙烷(Ethylene Oxide, EtO)為各醫院所普遍使用的消毒氣體,亦是紡織與食品工業中常用的燻蒸劑。長期暴露在此工作環境下的作業者,會引起不良的健康效應,包括致癌性、中樞神經傷害、生殖危害、基因突變、及白內障等。由於法今對作業環境中EtO的濃度要求日益嚴格,為評估EtO在空氣毒性作用方面的影響,發展一套方便、安全且可偵測較低濃度的採樣分析技術實有其必要。本研究即針對作業場所中低濃度的EtO進行探討,嘗試利用熱脫附裝置將採集到的樣本脫附濃縮直接注入氣相層析儀火焰離子偵測器(GC/FID)中分析。空氣樣本的採集是利用低流量幫浦(流速60ml/min)帶動空氣通過充填Carbosieve Ⅲ吸附齊劑(600mg)的採樣管,將EtO吸附捕集。分析程序首先是以100℃的溫度將採樣管中EtO脫附出來,用液態氮將分析樣本冷凝濃縮於冷凝管,再以超高純度氦氣為載送氣體將脫附出來的EtO載送到氣相層析儀中,經長度為60m的Supelcowax 10層析管柱分離援,以火焰離子偵測器(FID)對作業環境中之EtO進行定性、定量之分析。分析測定結果發現,熱脫附裝置的脫附效益可達100%,偵測極限值為1.2µg (0.03ppm),樣本在-10℃冰箱中可穩定保存9天,故此採樣方法可運用於作業環境中EtO之偵測。至醫院的消毒室現場採樣的結果發現,七個採樣點的EtO濃度雖均合於我國勞委會規定10ppm之標準,但亦高於美國職業安全衛生研究所(NIOSH)之建議值0.1ppm,其中以消毒室內的濃度最高,達l.99ppm,故長期暴露在此環境下作業者,其健康上恐有不良之虞慮。

並列摘要


Ethylene Oxide (EtO) is widely used to sterilize of heat-sensitive and moisture-sensitive materials in hospitals. It is also used as a fumigant in the textile and food industries. EtO is found to be a carcinogen, therefore, its permissible exposure level is lowered in recent years. It becomes necessary to develop new sampling and analytical methods of measuring EtO at low concentrations in order to estimate potential health effects from EtO. This study is designed to develop a sampling and analytical method for measuring EtO exposures at ppm levels. We have successfully demonstrated that a sampling Carbosieve Ⅲ sampling tube (600mg) and a low-flow pump (60ml/min for 6 hours) is able to collect enough amounts of EtO. The adsorbed EtO can be thermally desorbed by a thermal desorption unit and be analyzed by a GC/FID system (HP5890). In analysis, EtO was first thermally desorbed at 100℃ (Tekmar Inc., Model 6000) from Carbosieve and then cryogenically focused by liquid nitrogen at -150℃ and finally carried into a 60m long Supelcowax 10 capillary column for seperation and a flame ionization detector for identification and quantification. For EtO, the desorption efficiency of thermal desorber was 100%, the detection limit was 1.2µg (0.03ppm), and the storage stability was 15days at -10℃ in the refrigerator. A field study of samples, that were obtaind form a hospital sterilization facility, showed that EtO concentration did not exceed the standard of an 8-hour average of l0ppm regulate by the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA). However, these levels exceeded the standard of 0.1ppm recommended by the NIOSH. So, workers exposed to ethylene oxide in long terms may have a variety of adverse effects in health.

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