Quantitative determination of formaldehyde in air using the acetylacetone method.

The quantitative determination of formaldehyde in air using the fluorimetric acetylacetone method is described. Known concentrations of formaldehyde were generated and collected in water using absorbers. The sampling rate was 0.5 l/min, and the sampling volumes varied from 2 to 20 l, depending on theconcentration level. Under these conditions the entire sampling and the analytical method were evaluated over a range of 0.2-1.7 mg formaldehyde per m3 of air. The precision of the method expressed as a mean value of the relative standard deviation of 7 independent measurements (6 single determinations each) was 3.4 plus or minus 1.6 %SD. The accuracy was 101 plus or minus 5 %SD. The detection limit of the method was estimated to be 0.040 mg formaldehyde per m3 of air (5 litre air sample).