Analytical Sciences

Dimerization Products of Chloroprene are Background Contaminants Emitted from ALTEF (Polyvinylidene Difluoride) Gas Sampling Bags

Jae KWAK,*,** Maomian FAN,*** Jennifer A. MARTIN,*** Darrin K. OTT,*** and Claude C. GRIGSBY***

*UES Inc., Air Force Research Laboratory, 711th Human Performance Wing, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH, USA
**Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology, Department of Integrative Biology and Evolution, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Austria
***Air Force Research Laboratory, 711th Human Performance Wing, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH, USA

Gas sampling bags have been used for collecting air samples. Tedlar bags are most commonly used, but bleed background chemicals such as N,N-dimethylacetamide and phenol. It is often necessary to remove the contaminant by flushing the bags with pure nitrogen or air. In this study, we identified four chloroprene dimerization products as background contaminants emitted from ALTEF bags that are made of a proprietary polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF). No monomer chloroprene was detected in the bags analyzed. All of the dimers gradually increased once bags were filled with nitrogen due to diffusion from the bag surface. Flushing the bags with nitrogen reduced their concentrations, but was not effective for removing the contaminants. When the bags that had been flushed with nitrogen 5 times were left for 24 h, they increased again, indicating that the dimers were constantly emitted from the ALTEF bag surface. To our knowledge, these compounds have never been demonstrated in ALTEF or other PVDF bags. Our finding indicates that ALTEF might be incorporated with Neoprene (chloroprene-based polymer) during its manufacturing process.

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