Technical Guidance Note

(Monitoring)

M16

Monitoring volatile organic compounds

in stack gas emissions

Environment Agency
Version 2
September 2009

M16: Monitoring volatile organic compounds in stack gas emissions

M16: Monitoring volatile organic compounds in stack gas emissions

Foreword
Purpose
This Technical Guidance Note (TGN) is one of a series providing guidance to our
staff, monitoring contractors, industry and other parties interested in emissions and
regulatory monitoring.
This note provides information on the sampling, monitoring and measuring of volatile
organic compounds (VOCs) to air from industrial processes.
This TGN does not cover methods for monitoring VOCs in ambient air. These are
covered in a separate TGN, M9 Monitoring Methods for Ambient Air.
Feedback
Any comments or suggested improvements to this TGN should be e-mailed to Rupert
Standring at rupert.standring@environment-agency.gov.uk .

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Status of this document

This Guidance Note may be subject to review and amendment following publication.
The latest version of this note is available from www.mcerts.net

Record of changes
Version

Date

July 05

September 09

Change
Major revision

M16: Monitoring volatile organic compounds in stack gas emissions

Contents
1. Introduction..............................................................................................................1
2. Industrial sources of VOC emissions .....................................................................1
3. Classification of VOCs.............................................................................................2
4. Regulatory requirements.........................................................................................2
4.1 Specifying the concentration of VOCs ...............................................................................................2
4.2 Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations 2000 ..........................................................................3
4.3 Environmental Permitting Regulations...............................................................................................3
4.4 Waste Incineration Directive (WID)...................................................................................................3
4.5 The Solvent Directive.........................................................................................................................3

5. Techniques for monitoring TOCs...........................................................................3

5.1 Flame ionisation detectors ..................................................................................................................3
5.2 Electron capture detection ..................................................................................................................6
5.3 Catalytic oxidation..............................................................................................................................6

6. Techniques for monitoring individual VOCs ........................................................6

6.1 Sorbent tube followed by gas chromatography (GC) separation ........................................................6
6.2 Non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) detection .........................................................................................8
6.3 Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) ......................................................................................................8
6.4 Differential optical absorption spectrometry (DOAS)........................................................................8
6.5 Mass Spectroscopy .............................................................................................................................8

7. Hierarchy of monitoring standards........................................................................9

8. European periodic standard reference methods...................................................9
8.1 BS EN 12619 - FID method for low concentrations of TOC ............................................................9
8.2 BS EN 13526 - FID method for high concentrations of TOC ..........................................................10
8.3 BS EN13649 - charcoal tube method for individual VOCs..............................................................10

9. CEMs.......................................................................................................................10
10. References.............................................................................................................11
11. Glossary of terms and abbreviations..................................................................12
Appendix 1. Toxic VOCs...........................................................................................13

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1. Introduction
The term volatile organic compounds (VOCs) covers an enormous range of classes of
chemicals, such as aliphatic, aromatic and halogenated hydrocarbons, aldehydes,
ketones, esters, ethers, alcohols, acids and amines. It is recognised that certain VOCs
are involved in the generation of photochemical oxidants, in particular ozone, in the
troposphere. VOCs are an important class of pollutants commonly found in the
atmosphere at ground level in urban and industrial centres.
There are various definitions of VOCs. We have adopted the United Nations
Economic Council for Europe (UNECE) definition, which defines a VOC as any
organic compound which is emitted from non-natural processes and has a
photochemical ozone creation potential (POCP).
We interpret this as any organic compound released to the atmosphere from an
operators plant or process, excluding releases of naturally produced VOCs from
within the plant boundary and methane.
A large number of industries emit VOCs. These emissions have two main types of
impact:

a direct impact, where some VOCs can have direct effects on human
health;
indirect impacts through the creation of photochemical pollutants such as
ozone, which is a secondary pollutant. Ozone has direct effects on human
health, plants and materials. It is also a greenhouse gas.

A variety of primary and secondary legislation has been introduced to impose limits
on industrial VOC emissions. We ensure industries comply with these legislative
requirements. Therefore, operators of regulated industries need to assure us that they
are carrying out the following:

determining the types of VOCs which they emit, together with data on
VOC concentrations, dispersion routes and fates;
reporting which categories of VOCs are emitted, taking into account
factors such as the photochemical ozone creation potential;
using appropriate monitoring to demonstrate that they are controlling
their emissions within the required limits.

2. Industrial sources of VOC emissions

VOCs are emitted by wide range of different industries. For example emissions can
arise through the evaporation of organic compounds used as solvents; from processes
which use oil or organic chemicals; through incomplete combustion of fuels; and
through biological degradation of organic matter as in fermentation processes.
Emissions also occur over a wide range of concentrations. For example, stack
emissions of solvents from coating processes can range between less than 20 mg/m3
up to several thousand g/m3.
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3. Classification of VOCs
VOCs are categorised according to their potential environmental harmfulness, so that
an assessment can be made of the degree of control needed on their release from a
process.
Specific industry sector guidance notes provide advice on appropriate abatement and
achievable levels of control of releases according to the category of VOC concerned.
Substances such as benzene, vinyl chloride and 1,2 dichloroethane pose serious health
risks to humans and are regarded as highly harmful. Emissions of these compounds
must either be prevented or minimised by setting very low emission limits in permits.
Appendix 1 shows a selection of the most toxic VOCs.
Other VOCs carry a lower, albeit significant health risk. Such VOCs may also
contribute substantially to the creation of photochemical ozone, depletion of
stratospheric ozone or global warming. These are considered as having a medium
degree of harmfulness. This category includes the substances listed in the Montreal
Protocol. Examples include acetaldehyde, aniline, benzyl chloride, carbon
tetrachloride, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), ethyl acrylate, halons, maleic anhydride,
1,1,1-trichloroethane, trichloroethylene and trichlorotoluene.
The remaining majority of VOCs are considered as having a lower degree of
harmfulness. However, these VOCs are also regulated substances whose releases must
be prevented or minimised. Examples include butane and ethyl acetate.
The research report The Categorisation of Volatile Organic Compounds 1 provides a
method of categorisation, information on the properties of some 500 VOCs and a
summary table of resulting categorisations.
When categorising VOCs, the first step is to search the summary tables in The
Categorisation of Volatile Organic Compounds. If the VOC is not included, then the
method and decision tree given in the above report can be used to determine the
appropriate category.
4. Regulatory requirements
4.1 Specifying the concentration of VOCs
There are three commonly used ways of stating the concentrations of VOCs:

as total organic carbon (TOC), which is the concentration of carbon in

the gas stream, and usually expressed in milligrams per cubic metre
(mg/m3);
as TOC expressed in terms of the equivalent concentration of a specified
VOC, such as toluene;
the sum of the concentrations of specific, individual VOCs in a sample.

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Both speciated and TOC monitoring is often required when characterising industrial
emissions. The targeted VOCs to be monitored should take into account factors such
as their POCPs, toxicities and concentrations.
The limits set by us are expressed in terms of concentration. They depend upon the
VOCs being emitted or the abatement technology being used.
Emission limits are sector specific, and typical examples can range from 5 mg/m3 for
specific VOCs such as formaldehyde, 10 mg/m3 of TOC from waste incineration, or
50 mg/m3 of TOC from solvent-using processes.
4.2 Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations 2000
The Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) Regulations 20002 created the UK
national framework for implementing the European Community directive on
Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control3 (IPPC).
4.3 Environmental Permitting Regulations
The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations came into force in
April 2008. The new regulations replaced Pollution Prevention Control (PPC) and
Waste Management Licensing (WML) regimes in England and Wales. All PPC
Permits and WML automatically became environmental permits.
4.4 Waste Incineration Directive (WID)
The Directive on the incineration of waste4 (2000/76/EC) specifies limit values for
several determinands, which include gaseous organic vapours measured as total
organic carbon (TOC). The limit value for TOC is 10 mg/m3 expressed as a daily
average.
4.5 The Solvent Directive
The Solvent Directive5 (1999/13/EC) aims at reducing emissions of organic solvents
within certain processes and industrial installations.
VOCs are targeted in this Directive because organic solvents are commonly used in
adhesives, inks, paints and cleaning agents, such as degreasers. Solvents are also used
extensively to clean surfaces before coating and to remove greases and oils, such as
during manufacturing. Specialist applications such as pharmaceuticals manufacturing,
vegetable-oil extraction from seeds, and the impregnation of wood with preservatives
also make use of solvents.
5. Techniques for monitoring TOCs
5.1 Flame ionisation detectors
Flame ionisation detector (FID) techniques work by a gas being passed into a
measurement chamber, which uses a flame to create ions from the VOCs. More
specifically, FID analysers make use of the chemi-ionisation of organically bound
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carbon atoms in a hydrogen flame (Figure 1) to provide measurements. The

measurement cell contains a pair of electrodes, which the instrument applies a current
between. If there are ions present in the cell, then a current can pass between the
electrodes. The ionisation current measured by the FID depends upon the number of
carbon-hydrogen bonds of the organic compounds burning in the fuel gas flame and
the ability with which these compounds ionise. The more ions present in the cell, the
greater the current. As the abundance of ions within the cell depends on the
concentration of the gas, then FID provides an effective means of measuring the
concentrations of gases.
Figure 1 Generic design of a flame ionisation detector

PUMP

HEATED LINE &

PUMP SUPPLY

VOCS + METHANE
HEATED BYPASS
VALVE
NON-METHANE
VOC CONVERTER

FLAME

RESTRICTOR
AIR

CATALYTIC
AIR CLEANER

HYDROGEN/HELIUM SUPPLY

ELECTROMETER
FLAME
ELECTRODE

HEATED FID UNIT

FIDs do not differentiate between different compounds since they respond to carbonhydrogen bonds, rather than specific compounds. They also have low to no responses
to chlorinated compounds and reduced sulphur compounds. Therefore, a user must
know how a FID responds to different VOCs. The differences between these
responses can be compared by means of a relative response factor, which is based on
the ratio of the responses between different VOCs and a principal VOC used as a
calibrant.
The main strength of the FID is that it is a useful instrument for measuring total
carbon in a gas stream. As a general rule, the response of a FID is mostly influenced
by the number of carbon atoms in a sample. Furthermore, FIDs only respond to
gaseous or vapour phase molecules which contain carbon-hydrogen bonds. Table 1
shows the relative responses of FIDs to organic compounds.

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Table 1: Responsiveness of FIDs

CLASS OF COMPOUND
Aromatics
Alkanes
Alkenes/Alkynes
Chlorinated compounds
Ketones
Alcohols
Aldehydes

EXAMPLE
Benzene, toluene, xylene
Butane
Ethene/Ethyne
Dichloromethane
MEK
Butyl alcohol
Formaldehyde

SENSITIVITY
Excellent
Excellent
Excellent
Very poor
Good
Good
Poor

If the stack gas is relatively hot and wet, or the VOCs are concentrated, then there is a
high probability of condensation when the gas sample touches a surface cooler than
that in the stack. The only way to overcome this is to dry the gas stream, dilute it, or
maintain the temperature of the sample such that the chances of condensation are
reduced. A FID for stack monitoring should, therefore, have a means of preventing
condensation of either moisture or VOCs in the sample line (i.e. be equipped with a
heated-line, heated detector and a heated by-pass).
Where continuous or periodic sampling is carried out with an analyser close to the
duct and the sampled gases are above ambient temperature, then the line (and its
filter) carrying the sample to the analyser must be heated to prevent condensation and
reduce adsorption losses. The lines within an analyser also need to be heated, while all
gas chromatographs must have heated injection ports, ovens to heat the column and
detectors in heated housings (issues with using heated equipment to measure
flammable gases are outlined in Box 1).
Box 1: Intrinsic safety
Many industrial areas pose a risk of an explosion due to the presence of flammable
gases. The use of equipment in such areas is controlled by EC Directives. Potentially
explosive areas have three categories based on the risk of explosion, which are:

Zone 0: Explosive atmosphere present continuously or for long periods of time.

Zone 1: Explosive atmosphere present occasionally under normal operating
circumstances.
Zone 2: Explosive atmosphere not normally present and then only for short
periods.

Equipment which is to be used in such areas should not pose a risk of explosion, and
must either be certified to the applicable standards, or verified on site as safe.
Certified equipment is classed according to their applicability in the three zones, and
termed as intrinsically safe. Some FIDs are certified as intrinsically safe. However, no
FID can be certified for Zone 0 use.

Many simple, unheated, portable FIDs have been designed for applications in health
and safety screening, landfill gas monitoring, contaminated land measurements, and
fugitive emissions monitoring. The simpler FIDs also usually have a wider spectrum
of response factors, so their accuracy and precision will never be as great as the highly
engineered, complex, heated FIDs.
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5.2 Electron capture detection

The electron capture detector (ECD) works on the opposite principle to FIDs. Instead
of creating ions by fragmenting a molecule, the ECD creates ions by bombarding the
sampled gases with electrons. It works well with compounds which do not ionise
easily in a flame or ultraviolet (UV) light, i.e. compounds which have a strong affinity
for electrons. It was developed as a GC-detector for chlorinated compounds, such as
pesticides.
5.3 Catalytic oxidation
An instrument called a catalytic oxidiser is an alternative way of measuring total
carbon, although the technique is not used as widely as FID. A sample of VOCs enters
a combustion chamber which contains a catalyst, and within this, the carbon in the
VOCs is oxidised to carbon dioxide (CO2). The instrument then measures the
concentration of CO2 using an infra-red gas analyser.
This method has two disadvantages. First, the catalysts can be poisoned by some
components of the gas stream and secondly, the conversion of carbon to CO2 is not
always completely efficient.
6. Techniques for monitoring individual VOCs
6.1 Sorbent tube followed by gas chromatography (GC) separation
Solid adsorbents are versatile media for collecting hundreds of types of VOCs. They
work by collecting the VOC on the surface of the medium, which is usually contained
within a tube. Prior to analysis, the sampled VOCs are removed by either thermal
desorption, or by solvent extraction.
There is no universal sampling sorbent, each tends to be suited for monitoring
different categories of organic compound. For example, solid absorbents such as
charcoal are typically used for VOCs, while polymeric sorbents are used for semiVOCs.
Organic polymeric sorbents include porous, polymeric resins such as 2,4-diphenyl-pphenylene oxide (e.g Tenax GC) and styrene di-vinylbenzene co-polymer resins (e.g
XAD). These materials are hydrophobic, so they usually collect minimal amounts of
water during the sampling. This means they can be used to sample very large samples
of air, which is important if the target analytes are present in very small
concentrations. On the other hand, these resins are not well suited to collecting highly
volatile compounds, or certain polar materials, such as alcohols and ketones.
Inorganic sorbents include magnesium aluminium silicate (e.g. Florosil), silica gel and
molecular sieves. These are usually very polar adsorbents, so they are efficient for
collecting high-polarity compounds. However, they are also efficient at collecting
water, which tends to degrade the adsorbents, thus decreasing their efficiency.
Carbon sorbents have a polarity in between the inorganic and organic, polymeric
adsorbents, so water is less of a problem. However, collection of water can still inhibit
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some sampling programmes. Carbon based sorbents have a much stronger adsorption
than organic polymers, so they are very efficient for collecting a vast array of VOCs.
However, VOCs, which adhere strongly to carbon sorbents are also difficult to desorb.
There are two ways of desorbing VOCs from carbon sorbents, thermal desorption and
solvent extraction. Thermal desorption is preferable because solvent extraction
complicates the subsequent analysis. However, solvent extraction may result in a
greater recovery of the adsorbed VOCs if they have boiling points above 150C.
Apart from the versatility of the technique, its strength is that it effectively
immobilises the sample on the adsorbent. However, there are caveats when using
solid sorbents:

the media often collect VOCs other than the target analytes, so the user
must employ a means of separating the different VOCs once they have
been removed from the medium;
each medium has a saturation point, known as the breakthrough
concentration. The user must therefore know when this occurs, which in
turn means having some idea of the range of concentrations in the
sampled gas. This can usually only be determined reliably by pre-surveys
and some experimentation;
there is no universal adsorbent for all VOCs;
some VOCs cannot be entirely removed from the adsorbent medium once
they have adsorbed onto it. The proportion of desorbed target analyte is
known as the recovery rate, and the user must know this rate for the target
VOCs and the media used to collect them;
to apply this method correctly for compliance monitoring against an ELV, it
is essential that the species of VOCs present in the stack gas is known
beforehand. If they are not known, they may be determined by using this
technique to carry out semi-quantitative screening. Once the species are
known it is possible for the GC-FID analysis stage to be carried out
quantitatively.

Besides solid tubes a canister, which is coated with an inert surface, such as PTFE can
be used. Alternatively, the sample can be drawn into a canister which has been
evacuated. Once taken, the samples can then be analysed using methods such as GCFID or GC-MS. The technique is suitable for emissions where the VOCs are highly
concentrated and relatively free of particulates and moisture.
Also, many VOCs can be selectively trapped in liquid media. The VOC sample is
passed through an impinger containing a solution, after which the target determinand
is analysed.
The above techniques require a sample to be extracted from a stack or duct and
transported to a laboratory for subsequent analysis. For sources at ambient
temperature this is relatively straightforward. If the stack contains water vapour and is
at an elevated temperature, condensation in the sample container may cause problems.
The water vapour can be dealt with by diluting the sample or drying the gas stream
with a drying agent or a permeation tube drier.
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In terms of analysis, GC is a straightforward and accurate means of separating the

components of even quite complex mixtures. The FID is a very useful detector
because of its cost, sensitivity, wide dynamic range, reliability, response to all carbon
compounds, and linearity.
6.2 Non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) detection
All VOCs absorb electromagnetic radiation, while different compounds absorb energy
at different frequencies. This means that VOCs have an electromagnetic finger-print
which is known as a spectrum. This feature can be exploited for measurements by
targeting a peak or peaks in a compound's spectrum.
The diatomic bonds in VOCs absorb infrared (IR) radiation and vibrate. This fact is
exploited in the simplest and most widely used spectroscopic analysers. A source of
radiation generates a beam which is then focused through a cell and a filter is placed
in front of the beam in order to create a single wavelength beam of IR radiation. The
wavelength is selected to coincide with an exclusive absorption peak in the spectrum
of the target compound. The advantage of this technique is that most VOCs absorb
strongly in the IR. However, if there is a mixture of VOCs, then the spectra can
overlap. Therefore, the technique is suited best to single compounds or simple
mixtures where there are no interferences.
For some applications, infra-red analysers are well suited to long term monitoring of
VOCs. Acetylene, ethylene, ethane, propane, propylene, butene-1, butane, pentane
and hexane can all be measured at concentrations below ppm.
6.3 Fourier transform infrared (FTIR)
FTIR uses the same basic principle as simple infra red (IR) analysers, but resolves
interfering spectra by splitting the beam into two. One beam is then bounced off a
fixed mirror while the other is bounced off a moving mirror. This causes the beams to
be slightly out of phase. The beams are then directed by mirrors to collide, and the
resulting new spectrum creates both constructive and destructive interference in such
a way that software can carry out a Fourier transform calculation to identify distinct
compounds.
6.4 Differential optical absorption spectrometry (DOAS)
This technique was originally developed as an open-path monitor for atmospheric
research. Most DOAS instruments use either UV or IR absorption to distinguish
between different species. The technique can measure a selected handful of VOCs,
such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene and formaldehyde.
6.5 Mass Spectroscopy
In Mass Spectrometry (MS), organic molecules are bombarded with electrons and
converted to energetic, positively charged ions, which can break up into smaller ions.

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The molecular ions are separated by deflection in a variable magnetic field according
to their mass and charge. They generate a current at a detector in proportion to their
relative abundance. A mass spectrum is a plot of the relative abundance against the
mass-charge ratio.
This detection system is usually coupled with gas chromatography, and serves as a
definitive technique for analysing hundreds of VOCs. In recent years, developments
in this technique have resulted in on-line instruments, which can take direct readings
from stacks. The benefits of the technique is that it has very rapid response times
(typically in milliseconds) and a wide dynamic range, from ppb levels to 100%
concentrations.
The technique can also monitor several compounds at once, although there is also the
possibility of interference.
Mass spectrometry is very useful for identifying unknown compounds in a mixture
but is less suited to long-term routine monitoring of emissions - largely on grounds of
capital cost and maintenance.
7. Hierarchy of monitoring standards
A list of relevant standards for monitoring VOCs is given in the index of methods in
TGN M26. The standards in this index are selected from the following hierarchy:

Comit Europen de Normalisation7 (CEN)

International Standardisation Organisation8 (ISO)
National standards, such as US EPA9.

If the VOC cannot be monitored using standards covered by the above, then a method
from the following may be specified in TGN M2:

Method for the Determination of Hazardous Substances10 (MDHS)

series published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health11 (NIOSH)
Occupational Safety and Health Administration12 (OSHA).

8. European periodic standard reference methods

8.1 BS EN 12619 - FID method for low concentrations of TOC
CEN developed BS EN 1261913 as a standard reference method (SRM) for monitoring
TOC from incinerators. It has been validated as suitable for measuring low level
gaseous or vapour phase TOC emissions over a range of 0 - 20 mg/m3.
It specifies a set of minimum performance requirements for an instrument using a
FID, together with procedures for its calibration and operation.
The system comprises a probe with a filter connected to a heated sample line, which is
in turn connected to a heated FID.
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8.2 BS EN 13526 - FID method for high concentrations of TOC

BS EN 1352614 is similar to BS EN 12619, except that it has been validated for higher
concentrations of TOC found in emissions from processes which use solvents. BS EN
13526 was developed for processes covered by the Solvent Directive. The standard
has been validated as suitable for measuring emissions up to 500 mg/m3, although
FIDs can be used to measure higher concentrations.
8.3 BS EN13649 - charcoal tube method for individual VOCs
BS EN 1364915 was developed for monitoring individual VOC emissions from
solvent using processes. It specifies procedures for the sampling, preparation and
analysis. The VOCs are expressed as concentrations of individual species, averaged
over a sampling period.
The standard has been validated as suitable for use in the range from 0.5 mg/m3 up to
2000 mg/m3. The standard is based on the principles of sampling onto adsorption
media followed by desorption and analysis by gas chromatography. The standard
specifies desorption by solvent extraction, however, thermal desorption may also be
used.
There are several analytical methods which have been developed for monitoring
concentrations of VOCs in workplace atmospheres (MDHS, NIOSH, OSHA). These
analytical methods can be adapted for use in stack emissions monitoring. However, it
is important that the sampling part of the method follows the framework given in BS
EN 13649.
9. CEMs
If a process operators permit requires TOC to be measured continuously, the CEMs
used must be MCERTS certified. Information on our monitoring certification scheme
is available from www.mcerts.net .
Once a CEM has been installed, it should be checked for functionality and its
performance verified. Typical performance checks include:

leak test
response time
linearity
interference, particularly any substances which could cause bias
zero and span drift
comparison with a SRM.

The European standard, EN1418116, for the quality assurance of CEMs and TGN
M2017 provide further information on this.
EN 14181 was developed to implement requirements of applicable Directives, such as
the WID and LCPD. Therefore it is a legal requirement for installations regulated by
such Directives. For other processes, the general principles of EN 14181 are applied,
albeit in a simplified way.
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10. References
1. The Categorisation of Volatile Organic Compounds (DOE/HMIP/RR/95/009). HMIP
(1996).
2. Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations (England and Wales) 2000, (SI 2000,
No.1973.)
3. Directive 96/61/EC. A European Community System for Integrated Pollution Prevention
and Control (IPPC). Official Journal No. L257, 10.10.1996.
4. 2000/76/EC. Directive on the incineration of waste. Official Journal L332/91, 28.12.2000.
5. Directive 1999/13/EC. On the limitation of emissions of volatile organic compounds due to
the use of organic solvents in certain activities and installations. Official Journal L85/1,
29.3.1999.
6. Technical Guidance Note M2, Monitoring stack emissions to air, Environment Agency
7. Committee for European Normalisation, CEN. www.cenorm.be .
8. International Standards Organisation, ISO. www.iso.ch .
9. United States Environmental Protection Agency, USEPA. www.epa.gov/ttn/emc .
10. MDHS methods are available from the HSE website at
http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/mdhs/index.htm .
11. NIOSH methods are available from the NIOSH website at
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/nmam/ .
12. The OSHA methods are available from the OSHA website at
www.osha.gov/dts/sltc/methods/ .
13. BS EN 12619 (1999) - Stationary source emissions - Determination of the mass
concentration of total organic carbon at low concentrations in flue gases - continuous flame
ionisation detector method.
14. BS EN 13526 (2001) - Stationary source emissions - Determination of the mass
concentration of total gaseous organic carbon at high concentrations in flue gases Continuous flame ionisation detector method.
15. BS EN 13649 (2002) Stationary source emissions Determination of the mass
concentration of individual gaseous organic compounds Activated carbon and solvent
desorption method.
16. BS EN 14181 (2000) Stationary source emissions -Quality assurance of automated
measuring systems.
17. Technical Guidance Note M20, Quality assurance of continuous emissions monitoring
systems, Environment Agency.

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11. Glossary of terms and abbreviations

Glossary of acronyms
AST
Annual surveillance test
BS
British standard
CEMs
Continuous emission monitoring system
CEN
Comit Europen de Normalisation
DIAL
Differential absorption light detection and ranging
DOAS
Differential optical absorption spectroscopy
EC
European commission
ECD
Electron capture detection
ELV
Emission limit value
EN
European standard
EU
European Union
FID
Flame ionisation detector
FTIR
Fourier transform infrared spectrometry
GC
Gas chromatography
HPLC
High performance liquid chromatography
HSE
Health and Safety Executive
IR
Infrared
IPPC
Integrated pollution and prevention control
LIDAR
Light detection and ranging
MCERTS
Monitoring certification scheme
MDHS
Method for the Determination of Hazardous Substances
NIOSH
National Institute of Safety and Health
OSHA
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
POCP
Photochemical ozone causing potential
PPC
Pollution and prevention control
PTFE
Polytetrafluoroethylene
SRM
Standard reference method
TCD
Thermal conductivity detector
TGN
Technical guidance note
TOC
Total organic carbon
UNECE
United Nations economic council of Europe
US EPA
United States Environmental Protection Agency
UV
Ultraviolet
VOC
Volatile organic compound
WID
Waste incineration directive
WML
Waste management licence

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Appendix 1. Toxic VOCs

Table A2-1 - Alphabetical list of VOCs identified
to be of importance due to their toxicity
Compound
acrylamide
acrylonitrile
azinphos-methyl
benzene
benzo(a)anthracene
benzo(b)fluoranthene
benzo(k)fluoranthene
benzo(j)fluoranthene
benzo(a)pyrene
butadiene
carbon disulphide
1-chloro-2,3-epoxypropane
chloroethene (vinyl chloride)
dibenzo(a,h)anthracene
1,2-dichlorethane
dichlorvos
dieldrin
diethyl sulphate
dimethyl sulphate
dnoseb
endosulfan
endrin
1,2-epoxypropane
2-ethoxyethanol
2-ethoxyethyl acetate
4,4-methylenebis(2-chloroanaline)
4,4-methylenediphenyl diisocyanate
nitrobenzene
2-nitropropane
phenol
phorate
phosgene
polychlorinated biphenyls
2-propen-1-ol
pyrene
1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane

M16, Version 2, September 2009

Category
cat.2 carcinogen and mutagen
cat.2 carcinogen
very toxic
cat.1 carcinogen
cat.2 carcinogen
cat.2 carcinogen
cat.2 carcinogen
cat.2 carcinogen
cat.2 carcinogen, mutagen and teratogen
cat.2 carcinogen
cat.2 teratogen
cat.2 carcinogen
cat.1 carcinogen
cat.2 carcinogen
cat.2 carcinogen
very toxic
very toxic
cat.2 carcinogen and mutagen
cat.2 carcinogen
cat.2 teratogen
very toxic
very toxic
cat.2 carcinogen
cat.2 teratogen
cat.2 teratogen
cat.2 carcinogen
very toxic (inhalation)
very toxic
cat.2 carcinogen
very toxic (inhalation)
very toxic
very toxic
IARC group 2A
very toxic (inhalation)
very toxic
very toxic

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