Airborne aldehydes in cabin-air of commercial aircraft: Measurement by HPLC with UV absorbance detection of 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazones

• Measurement of airborn aldehydes in aicraft.
• Sampling on DNPH-cartridges.
• Analysis by HPLC with UV/VIS absorption.
• Influence of ozone.
• No noticeable contamination of aircraft cabin.

This paper presents the strategy and results of in-flight measurements of airborne aldehydes during normal operation and reported “smell events” on commercial aircraft. The aldehyde-measurement is a part of a large-scale study on cabin-air quality. The aims of this study were to describe cabin-air quality in general and to detect chemical abnormalities during the so-called “smell-events”. Adsorption and derivatization of airborne aldehydes on 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine coated silica gel (DNPH-cartridge) was applied using tailor-made sampling kits. Samples were collected with battery supplied personal air sampling pumps during different flight phases. Furthermore, the influence of ozone was investigated by simultaneous sampling with and without ozone absorption unit (ozone converter) assembled to the DNPH-cartridges and found to be negligible. The method was validated for 14 aldehydes and found to be precise (RSD, 5.5–10.6%) and accurate (recovery, 98–103 %), with LOD levels being 0.3–0.6 μg/m3. According to occupational exposure limits (OEL) or indoor air guidelines no unusual or noticeable aldehyde pollution was observed. In total, 353 aldehyde samples were taken from two types of aircraft. Formaldehyde (overall average 5.7 μg/m3, overall median 4.9 μg/m3, range 0.4–44 μg/m3), acetaldehyde (overall average 6.5 μg/m3, overall median 4.6, range 0.3–90 μg/m3) and mostly very low concentrations of other aldehydes were measured on 108 flights. Simultaneous adsorption and derivatization of airborne aldehydes on DNPH-cartridges to the Schiff bases and their HPLC analysis with UV absorbance detection is a useful method to measure aldehydes in cabin-air of commercial aircraft.