Gas chromatographic–mass spectroscopic determination of benzene in indoor air during the use of biomass fuels in cooking time

A gas chromatography–mass spectroscopic method in electron ionization (EI) mode with MS/MS ion preparation using helium at flow rate 1 ml min−1 as carrier gas on DB-5 capillary column (30 m × 0.25 mm i.d. film thickness 0.25 μm) has been developed for the determination of benzene in indoor air. The detection limit for benzene was 0.002 μg ml−1 with S/N: 4 (S: 66, N: 14). The benzene concentration for cooks during cooking time in indoor kitchen using dung fuel was 114.1 μg m−3 while it was 6.6 μg m−3 for open type kitchen. The benzene concentration was significantly higher (p < 0.01) in indoor kitchen with respect to open type kitchen using dung fuels. The wood fuel produces 36.5 μg m−3 of benzene in indoor kitchen. The concentration of benzene in indoor kitchen using wood fuel was significantly (p < 0.01) lower in comparison to dung fuel. This method may be helpful for environmental analytical chemist dealing with GC–MS in confirmation and quantification of benzene in environmental samples with health risk exposure assessment.