This part of ISO 13741 specifies a method for the determination of residual monomers and other (unsaturated or saturated) organic components in aqueous polymer dispersions and latices as well as in related products. It makes use of capillary-column gas chromatography, the sample being introduced into the chromatograph in vapour form from a headspace vial.

Residual monomers and saturated volatiles that have been successfully determined by this method include acrylic and methacrylic esters, butadiene, styrene and vinyl acetate, as well as by-products such as ethylbenzene.

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.