Personal Monitoring: Passive

Details

• Personal Author:
  Harper M
• Description:
  Acute or chronic exposure to the thousands of minor components that can be present in the air we breathe may cause adverse health effects. Such exposure may occur in the workplace, home, or outdoor environment. Monitoring of these components is required to ensure compliance with recommended or regulated air quality standards. The preferred monitoring method would give a continuous and accurate measurement of instantaneous changes in the concentration of each harmful species present, in a manner that would model human exposure. The compromise most often applied in practice is to extract the components from a large volume (to provide sensitivity) of breathing zone air together with subsequent laboratory analysis (to provide selectivity). In the 'active' method of extracting the gas and vapor components of air, a known volume is passed through an apparatus containing liquids in which the components can dissolve, porous solids on which the components can be adsorbed, or liquids or solids containing chemicals with which the components can react. The total volume of air passed is metered by the pump, and both pump and extraction apparatus are placed appropriately about the person to obtain a representative sample. The pumps have been criticized as bulky, heavy, and noisy, and therefore an encumbrance to the wearer, and also as expensive. An alternative method known as 'passive' or diffusive sampling, which does not require a pump or air mover, has gained popularity in recent years. Diffusive samplers operate by allowing the gas and vapor molecules to make their own way to the collection medium by diffusion along a carefully controlled path. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Air Pollution Laboratories Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Air Contaminants Air Quality Laboratory Techniques Monitoring Systems Samplers Sampling Equipment
• ISBN:
  9780123693976
• Publisher:
  Elsevier
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Book
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  HELD - Health Effects Laboratory Division
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  49-55
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20069219
• Citation:
  Encyclopedia of analytical science, second edition. Worsfold P, Townshend A, Poole C, eds. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2005 Jan; :49-55
• Editor(s):
  Worsfold P; Townshend A; Poole C
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2005
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Encyclopedia of analytical science, second edition
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:905b4850759c706d3c2852946ad250cd40ddc1f012a23bdeb6f7ed7c2d9d27aecde86b68fa5b791c94ff3f312680b8ce38406e2a9c25cad44080d58dfd9f1625
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/207742/cdc_207742_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 166.37 KB ]