National foreword

This British Standard is the UK implementation of ISO 13741‑2:2026. It supersedes BS ISO 13741‑2:1998, which is withdrawn.

The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee PRI/82, Thermoplastic materials.

A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained on request to its committee manager.

Contractual and legal considerations

This publication has been prepared in good faith, however no representation, warranty, assurance or undertaking (express or implied) is or will be made, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by BSI in relation to the adequacy, accuracy, completeness or reasonableness of this publication. All and any such responsibility and liability is expressly disclaimed to the full extent permitted by the law.

This publication is provided as is, and is to be used at the recipient’s own risk.

The recipient is advised to consider seeking professional guidance with respect to its use of this publication.

This publication is not intended to constitute a contract. Users are responsible for its correct application.

Compliance with a British Standard cannot confer immunity from legal obligations.

This British Standard was published under the authority of the Standards Policy and Strategy Committee on 31 October 2026.

Foreword

ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.

The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the different types of ISO documents should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).

ISO draws attention to the possibility that the implementation of this document may involve the use of (a) patent(s). ISO takes no position concerning the evidence, validity or applicability of any claimed patent rights in respect thereof. As of the date of publication of this document, ISO had not received notice of (a) patent(s) which may be required to implement this document. However, implementers are cautioned that this may not represent the latest information, which may be obtained from the patent database available at www.iso.org/patents. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not constitute an endorsement.

For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.

This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 61, Plastics, Subcommittee SC 9, Thermoplastic materials.

This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition (ISO 13741‑2:1988), which has been technically revised.

The main changes are as follows:

the relative corrective factors for internal standard method in quantitative method are now determined by standard addition method, rather than external standard in previous version;
added details for the preparation of standard solutions, calibration solutions and sample solutions are described;
added the specification for automated headspace sampler;
add Clause 3 Terms and definitions.

A list of all parts in the ISO 13741 series can be found on the ISO website.

Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html.

Introduction

The requirements imposed today by authorities include the assessment of the content of residual monomers and organic volatiles, for health and environmental reasons sometimes down to minute traces.

This document presents a method for the determination by gas chromatography of residual monomers and other organic components in polymer dispersions and lattices. This document provides a method that is in line with present-day requirements for analytical methods and is intended for use instead of ISO 3899, where precise measurements of volatile-matter content are needed. This document also expands the scope to include other volatile organic components than residue monomers.

Since the chromatograms obtained normally contain a series of peaks, it is only possible to determine the content of those volatiles for which response factors have been determined. For the identification of unknown peaks, auxiliary methods like mass spectroscopy or the use of a second GC column with a different polarity are advisable.

1 Scope

This document specifies a method for the determination of residual monomers and other volatile organic components (unsaturated or saturated) in aqueous polymer dispersions and lattices, as well as in related products by headspace capillary-column gas chromatography (HS-GC).

This document is applicable to the determination of residual monomers and other volatiles, include acrylic and methacrylic esters, butadiene, styrene vinyl acetate, as well as by-products such as ethylbenzene.

2 Normative references

3 Terms and definitions

4 Principle

5 Reagents

5.1

5.2

5.3

5.4

5.5

5.6

6 Apparatus

6.1

6.2

6.3

6.4

6.5

6.6

6.7

6.8 Magnetic stirrer or roller mixer

7 Preparation of apparatus

7.1

7.2

7.3

8 Calibration

8.1 Preparation of calibration solution

8.2 Test calibration solutions

8.3 Calculate relative mass correction factor

9 Procedure

9.1 Preparation of the sample solution (specimens)

9.2 Test sample solutions (specimens)

10 Calculation

10.1 Calculate target compounds concentration in sample solutions

10.2 Calculate target compound content in polymer dispersions and lattices

11 Test report

Bibliography