Procedure for EN 12662 Filtration

Filter Paper Used: Whatman Glass Microfibre Filters GF/F (Cat No. 1825-047)

Preparation of the filter

1) Clean the filtration apparatus thoroughly with filtered n-Heptane.

2) Place a filter paper on the filter holder and rinse the filter with filtered n-Heptane by
applying vacuum at absolute pressure of 2 – 5 kPa.
3) Remove the filter paper and place it on a Petri dish, dry the filter paper in a 110 °C oven
for 45 mins.
4) Cool the filter paper in a desiccator for another 45 mins.
5) Weigh and record the initial weight of the filter paper, m1 to the nearest 0.1 mg.

Preparation of the sample

1) Place the sample together with its original container at a 60°C water bath for 2 hrs to
dissolve every component in the sample.
2) Remove the sample container. Let the sample cool down to room temperature.
3) Tare a 1L beaker. Shake the sample well to loosen any possible contaminants adhering to
the container’s wall.
4) Pour approximately 300 mL of sample into the beaker. Record the mass of the test
portion mE to the nearest 0.1 g.
5) Add 300 mL of solvent (mixture of heptane to xylene in a ratio of 3:1) into the beaker
containing sample.
6) Mix the sample thoroughly with the solvent and leave the sample at room temperature
for 2 hrs before filtration.

Filtration of sample

1) Filter the sample by applying vacuum at absolute pressure of 2 – 5 kPa. Carefully rinse
the beaker and filter funnel with filtered n-Heptane and filter the rinsings. Repeat the
washing operation another two times.
2) Wash the filter paper with gentle streams of filtered n-Heptane. Maintain the vacuum
for 10 to 15 secs until all excess heptane had been removed from the filter.
3) Remove the filter paper and dry it on a petri dish in an oven of 110 °C for 45 mins. Cool
down the filter paper in a desiccator for 45 mins. Take the final weight of the filter
paper, m2 to the nearest 0.1 mg.

Calculation

Calculate the total contamination as a mass fraction, µ in mg/kg as below:

1000 (𝑚2−𝑚1)
µ= 𝑚𝐸
, where

m1 = initial weight of filter paper in mg

m2 = final weight of filter paper in mg

mE = mass of the sample test portion in g