Direct-reading instruments for aerosols. A review

Our plain-English summary of Direct-reading instruments for aerosols. A review, by P.A. Baron (The Analyst, 1994).

The study

• Author: P.A. Baron
• Journal: The Analyst
• Published: 1994;119(1):35-40
• Cited by: 7 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

Direct-reading instruments for aerosols have not had the popularity within the industrial hygiene community that similar instruments for gases and vapours have enjoyed. There are several reasons for this: aerosols have complex properties that are difficult to characterize with a single measurement, commercial instruments often do not provide an accurate measure of a useful aerosol property and aerosol instruments are relatively expensive for industrial hygiene use. A variety of instruments are commercially available and are briefly reviewed. Two general classes of instruments used for industrial hygiene measurements are covered: field instruments and research instruments. The International Symposium on Air Sampling Instrument Performance held in Research Triangle Park, NC, USA, in October, 1991 included a workshop on direct-reading aerosol instruments that produced several recommendations to advance the state of the art. The two primary recommendations approved by the symposium attendees were to develop voluntary consensus standards for aerosol mass measuring instruments and optical particle counters and to develop an accurate, portable, direct-reading aerosol mass monitor. Some progress is being made on the latter recommendation through a project supported by the US Bureau of Mines. Other instruments have found specific application in industrial hygiene measurements. A miniaturized condensation nucleus counter is being used to estimate fit factors for respirators. A fibre monitor is used for monitoring asbestos, especially in asbestos abatement operations. Optical particle counters are used for low-concentration aerosols, especially in clean rooms. Aerosol research instruments are being used to evaluate and improve field instrumentation, such as respirable, thoracic and inhalable samplers and cascade impactors.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

In plain English

This article was a review, not a study of people. The author surveyed direct-reading instruments, which give rapid readings of dust and other airborne particles (aerosols) in workplaces, and stated that the discussion did not attempt to be comprehensive. Instruments covered included light-scattering photometers and optical particle counters, crystal and oscillating microbalances, condensation nucleus counters, aerodynamic particle sizers and fibrous aerosol monitors. The fibrous aerosol monitor was described as developed primarily to measure asbestos fibres and as widely used for monitoring asbestos removal operations. The author reported that it had not been shown to be accurate enough to replace the standard method of collecting fibres on a filter and counting them with a phase contrast light microscope. The author also noted that photometer readings can change by 50% or more for the same particle mass when particle size or chemistry changes. The review summarized recommendations from a 1991 workshop, including the need for an accurate, portable aerosol mass monitor. It warned that errors from sampling and from particle losses inside instruments can be large. The author concluded that further work was needed to improve the accuracy of these instruments and to ensure that they are used properly.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: review (narrative survey of instrument types and of workshop recommendations)
• Who was studied: No people were studied; the subjects were commercially available and developmental direct-reading aerosol instruments used in industrial hygiene
• Exposure: Workplace aerosols in general; for asbestos, the fibrous aerosol monitor (Models FAM-1 and FM7400) for measuring asbestos fibres
• Main results:
  • The fibrous aerosol monitor had been widely used to monitor asbestos removal operations, giving a real-time indication of fibre concentration
  • The fibrous aerosol monitor had not been shown to be accurate enough to replace the standard filter collection and phase contrast light microscope method for fibres
  • For photometers, changes in particle size distribution or chemistry can change the light-scattering signal by 50% or more for the same particle mass
  • The tapered element oscillating microbalance was described as probably the most accurate direct-reading instrument for particle mass, though not portable
  • A workshop at a symposium in October 1991 recommended, among other things, an accurate, portable, direct-reading aerosol mass monitor
  • Errors from sampling and from losses inside instruments can be large; many manufacturers paid little attention to instrument inlets
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that further work was needed both to improve the accuracy of workplace aerosol instruments and to ensure that they are used properly
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The author stated that the discussions do not attempt to be comprehensive

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Industrial Hygiene, Air Sampling, State-of-the-Art Defense, Respirator, Abatement.

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