Monitoring method for airborne glymes and its application in fuel exhaust emission measurement Original Research Article

A monitoring method based on solvent extraction of adsorbed target glymes followed by gas chromatograph-mass spectrometry GC–MS analysis was developed for seven glymes, namely ethylene glycol dimethyl ether, propylene glycol dimethyl ether, ethylene glycol diethyl ether, diethylene glycol dimethyl ether, diethylene glycol diethyl ether, triethylene glycol dimethyl ether, and tetraethylene glycol dimethyl ether. The best recoveries of target glymes were achieved when using a combination of sample collection medium of graphitised carbon black (GCB) with a solvent mixture of methylene chloride and methanol (95/5, v/v). Method detection limits ranged from 1.5 μg/m3 for diethylene glycol diethyl ether to 13.2 μg/m3 for ethylene glycol diethyl ether based on a sample volume of 3.4 l. Using this method, diethylene glycol dimethyl ether and diethylene glycol diethyl ether were detected and measured successfully in diluted vehicle exhausts in diesel fuel engine tests.