Measurement of Respirable Superabsorbent

Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene, 8: 215–225 ISSN: 1545-9624 print / 1545-9632 online c 2011 JOEH, LLC Copyright DOI: 10.1080/15459624.2011.561427

Measurement of Respirable Superabsorbent Polyacrylate (SAP) Dust by Ethanol Derivatization Using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) Detection Paul McCormack,1 John S. Lemmo,2 Margaret Macomber,3 Mark L. Holcomb,4 and Robert Lieckfield Jr.5 1

BASF SE, Ludwigshafen am Rheim, Germany Johnson & Johnson, Consumer Companies, Inc., Skillman, New Jersey 3 The Procter & Gamble Company, Cincinnati, Ohio 4 Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Neenah, Wisconsin 5 Bureau Veritas USA, Novi, Michigan 2

Superabsorbent polyacrylate (SAP) is an important industrial chemical manufactured primarily as sodium polyacrylate but occasionally as potassium salt. It has many applications owing to its intrinsic physical property of very high water absorption, which can be more than 100 times it own weight. SAP is commonly used in disposable diapers and feminine hygiene products and is known by a number of synonyms—sodium polyacrylate, superabsorbent polyacrylate (SAP), polyacrylate absorbent (PA), and superabsorbent material (SAM). Germany and The Netherlands have adopted a nonbinding scientific guideline value 0.05 mg/m3 (8-hr timeweighted average, TWA) as the maximum allowable workplace concentration for the respirable dust of SAP (95%) of the material used in disposable diapers, adult incontinence products, and feminine hygiene products. The primary focus of this research was to establish a sampling and analytical method for SAP that could be used in the industry for accurate SAP respirable dust monitoring at levels of the order of the German Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area—MAK Commission (MAK) guideline value of 0.05 mg/m3 for respirable dust (