Relationship of Air Sampling Measurements to Internal Dose: A Review

Author

J. J. Whicker

Abstract

Sampling of air, especially in the breathing zone (BZ), is done to more directly measure concentrations of inhalable material. Safety professionals have often used these measurements to estimate exposures, especially when the bioassay data are either not available or inadequate to accurately infer individual intake. In addition, sampling in the BZ using lapel continuous air monitors has been suggested to increase the timeliness and sensitivity of the alarms. The purpose of this review was to collect information from current literature on the relationships between air and BZ sampling and internal dose. The literature survey was limited to particulate sampling. Results from the reviewed studies suggest that measurements of aerosol concentrations in the BZ often do not correlate well with bioassay results. This result may be largely explained by the findings that BZ measurement results can vary significantly as affected by measurement conditions such as orientation of sampler with respect to source, on which lapel (right or left) the sampler is worn, design of the air sampling head, particle size, local air velocities and directions, and sharp concentration gradients in and around the breathing zones of workers.

Meeting

This abstract was presented at the 37th Annual Midyear Meeting, "Air Monitoring and Internal Dosimetry", Personal Air Sampling, Part 1 Session, 2/8/2004 - 2/11/2004, held in Augusta, GA.

 
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