Temporal Stability of Polar Organic Compounds in Stainless Steel Canisters

Because of considerable interest at US EPA for the collection of polar organic compounds in stainless steel canisters, particularly for the Toxic Air Monitoring Site (TAMS) study, the stability of 10 selected polar organics in canisters was investigated and the results are described in this paper. The polar organic compounds selected for this stability study were: methanol, acetone, isoprene, acrylonitrile, vinyl acetate, methyl ethyl ketone, t-butyl methyl ether, ethyl acetate, n-butanol, and ethyl acrylate. Two nonpolar compounds, methyl chloroform and toluene, shown to be stable in previous work were included in the stability study as controls. The compounds were loaded in unpolished and Summa-polished canisters at parts-per-billion (ppb) levels under dry and humid conditions. The canister samples were analyzed on Days 0, 1, 3, 4, 14, and 31 after loading. The experimental procedures and stability results are summarized briefly.