A pharmaceutical company has employed a portable FTIR multiparameter gas analyser from Quantitech to check air quality in an office for which there had been a number of odour complaints.
Monitoring up to 25 compounds simultaneously, the FTIR was able to demonstrate compliance with occupational safety limits.
A Gasmet DX 4030 was employed to assess the office air by sampling and analysis for a period of approximately one hour.
The results provided a comprehensive picture of the room's air quality, demonstrating that there were no reasons for concern from a safety perspective.
In addition to gas analysis of the room air, samples were taken from potential sources of contamination - carpet, radiator vent, skirting boards, whiteboard cleaner and marker pens.
While elevated levels of compounds such as Dichloromethane, Dichloroethane and Limonene were observed when a marker pen and cleaner were tested, the levels did not exceed the WELs for these substances, though OTs were exceeded for Limonene and Methylcyclopentane.
The FTIR gas analysis demonstrated that the air in the room was safe to breathe but did not identify the source of the odour complaints.
It is likely therefore that the source produces compounds with extremely low OTs - probably parts per trillion.
Dr Andrew Hobson of Quantitech said: 'The new portable FTIR (Gasmet DX4030) generates a complete infrared spectrum of the air that can be interrogated after sampling to identify hundreds of compounds, thereby substantially reducing the risk of failing to identify a significant compound.'
