Ethylene oxide pollution evaluation part I: Sampling with active charcoal tubes

Air sampling of ethylene oxide on active charcoal tubes followed by GC analysis is a frequently proposed method. This paper studies just to what extent it can be used, defining its limitations (concentration range, influence of ambient temperature and relative humidity), which are seldom taken seriously into account. This method proves inadequate to determine low pollution levels, i.e. around 2 mg m−3.