Excessive amounts of unreacted monomer may cause concerns relating to toxicity and odor. This test method is designed to measure the unreacted monomer content of latexes. The results may be used to monitor the extent of polymerization during manufacture, as well as to establish maximum unreacted monomer content for regulatory purposes.

1.1 This test method covers the determination of free monomer content of acrylic latexes. Monomers that have been successfully determined by this procedure include n-butyl methacrylate, n-butyl acrylate, styrene, and methyl methacrylate. The determination of other monomers has not been evaluated, but this test method is believed to be applicable. The established working range of this test method is from 100 to 1000 μg/g, but there is no reason to believe it will not work outside of this range, provided that appropriate dilutions and adjustments in specimen size are made.

1.2 The volatile composition of acrylic latexes is expected to change with time and environmental factors. This time dependence of the determination may be seen as an artificially large deviation of results, making the method mostly applicable for in-house quality control, where sampling and analysis conditions can be better controlled.

1.3 The values stated in inch-pound units are to be regarded as the standard. The values given in parentheses are for information only.

1.4 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use. See Section 7 for specific hazard statements.