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List of common compounds and their detectability
using the Standard UVIC^® Mk II with a Krypton Lamp

Notes.

1. Comments #2 to #5 below apply to the performance of the UVIC^® supplied in its standard form i.e. fitted with a krypton lamp. Comment #6 applies generally.

2. The UVIC^® does not respond to the constituents of ‘normal’ clean air. However oxygen and water vapour both absorb the UV radiation to some extent and thus variations in absolute humidity will have a small effect on the calibration.

3. The UVIC^® cannot detect the majority of commonly occurring inorganic compounds such as CO, CO₂ and HCN. However it does exhibit good sensitivity to ammonia (NH₃) which is very useful for some applications.

4. The UVIC^® responds to a very large range of organic compounds. These include aliphatic and aromatic ethers, ketones, aldehydes and esters. In the vast majority of cases there will be a good response to compounds containing a C=C bond e.g. ethylene, propylene etc. Higher homologues of saturated aliphatic compounds are also detectable when the carbon chain lengths exceed 3 atoms.

5. The UVIC^® also responds strongly to a wide range of industrially/domestically encountered compounds many of which are mixtures. These include:

i. Diesel and Gasoline Fuel vapour
ii. Turpentine and most other paint solvents
iii. Solvent based cleaning compounds
iv. Adhesives.
v. Solvents employed in the electronics, pharmaceutical and other industries.

6. The UVIC^® responds to the total quantity of ionisable compounds present in the sampled airstream. Therefore it cannot distinguish between or among the compounds within a mixture. However if interest is centred on a known single compound then the UVIC^® can readily be calibrated to provide a reasonably accurate (±10%) indication of the concentration. Sensitivity varies depending on the particular compound but generally concentrations in the region of 0.1 ppm V/V are detectable.

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