Completion Date
3-2018
Advisor(s)
Tracy Thatcher
Abstract
Most wine-making processes occur indoors or inside enclosed areas, where the threat of accumulating volatile compounds can result in compromised human health and safety. Compounds such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, styrene, and ethanol have concentration limits set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). These volatile organic compounds (VOCs), as well as carbon dioxide, will be tested for during various stages of the wine-making process using EPA Method T0-17: a standardized method for determining VOCs in ambient air using active sampling onto sorbent tubes. VOCs that are collected on the sorbent tubes will be analyzed using thermal desorption gas chromatography mass spectrometry to provide speciated VOC concentrations while avoiding the use of extra solvents during analysis. The goal of this thesis is to determine if there is any point during the wine-making process where workers are exposed to possibly hazardous levels of VOCs or CO2, as well as evaluate current strategies utilized to control exposure levels.
URL: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/bkendowments/56
Copyright
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.