Investigations of the Formation of Bis-Chloromethyl Ether in Simulated Hydrogen Chloride-Formaldehyde Atmospheric Environments

The vapor phase reaction of formaldehyde and hydrogen chloride in air has been studied for the formation of bis-chloromethyl ether. At relatively high concentrations of these reactants (500 to 3000 ppm) bis-chloromethyl ether was produced at a low parts-per-billion level. It was found that bis-chloromethyl ether does not form in detectable amounts when formaldehyde and hydrogen chloride coexist in air at concentrations of a few parts per million. Even at concentrations higher than the threshold limit values off these materials-for example, at 100 ppm each-bis-chloromethyl ether is not formed at a detection limit of 0.1 ppb. The vapor phase mixing of formaldehyde and hydrogen chloride was done at ambient room temperature and relative humidity, and the mixture was allowed to stand for more than 14 hours before analysis.