Yes, Even You Can Do Industrial Hygiene Air

Sampling
If you thought air sampling was too difficult to handle, this guide can help you tackle routine sampling with
confidence. Part I of a series. http://ehstoday.com/industrial_hygiene/instrumentation/ehs_imp_36372
May 20, 2003John Rekus
You don't have to be a certified industrial hygienist to do personal air sampling." That's what I've told hundreds of participants in
introductory industrial hygiene courses I have taught since 1994. Discussions with participants in these courses revealed that many
otherwise (apparently) competent safety practitioners were intimidated by the very thought of doing any type of industrial hygiene air
sampling other than perhaps evaluating a confined space prior to entry. Some participants seemed to view industrial hygiene as
wizardry practiced by magicians who did mystical things to test workplace air. Others were bewildered by the seemingly endless array of
gadgets and gizmos that industrial hygienists used to perform their magic and felt that they lacked the requisite skills to use such arcane
hardware. Still others thought that they would incur the wrath of industrial hygienists if they encroached on their sacred turf.
I tried to demystify industrial hygiene sampling process in a logical step-by-step manner, while demonstrating typical industrial hygiene
sampling equipment and providing a caveat that air sampling that required a lot of professional judgments should be left to the CIHs.
Some sampling, however, can be adequately performed by a trained technician. Perhaps the best example of this is the periodic routine
sampling required by OSHA's substance-specific health standards such as lead, methylene chloride and cadmium.
The OSHA standards list permissible exposure limits (PELs) for about 600 chemicals, such as acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, toluene and
ethyl alcohol, that are commonly found in the industrial environment. Although OSHA has airborne limits for these substances, the
agency does not specifically require that air sampling be performed to evaluate employee exposures to most of these substances.
Instead, it simply requires that employee exposures to the regulated chemicals remain below the PEL. Although the most practical way
of making this determination is to perform air sampling, sampling is not mandated for the vast majority of the substances that OSHA
regulates.
However, there are a handful of substances (Table I) that specifically require that air sampling be performed. Moreover, these
substance-specific standards require that periodic sampling be performed on a regular basis such as monthly or quarterly. Some of the
substances such as lead, cadmium and methylene chloride may be found in many workplace settings.
For example, lead and cadmium pigments are used in some industrial paints and coatings. Employees may be exposed to these
substances when they perform operations such as spray painting with materials containing these pigments or when they perform
welding or oxy-fuel gas cutting on metal surfaces protected by lead- or cadmium-containing coatings. Methylene chloride is a common
industrial solvent and often used for paint removal and furniture stripping.
Other substances are found only in a few very specific settings. For example, coke oven emissions are found only in steel mills that have
coke ovens and cotton dust is found only in facilities that process raw cotton. Ethylene oxide is a feed stock for some chemical
manufacturing processes and is commonly found in hospitals, where it is used to sterilize delicate medical devices.
Since sampling to meet the requirements of substance-specific standards is routine and repetitive, it can easily be performed by
someone other than a certified industrial hygienist. As a practical matter, once the person performing the sampling becomes proficient
with generally accepted industrial hygiene practices such as how to calibrate the sampling equipment, how to place the equipment on
employees, what field information to document and how to properly handle the samples and submit them to the laboratory, it is then
just a matter of repeating those tasks without the need to make the types of professional judgments that are best left to the CIHs.
Personal Sampling Explained
The type of sampling required by OSHA's substance-specific standards is called personal breathing zone sampling. The sampling is
"personal" because it evaluates an individual employee's exposure to a chemical as opposed to area sampling that measures the
concentration of a substance in a given area (e.g., the amount of carbon monoxide in a warehouse where gasoline-powered forklifts are
being used). Although certain inferences can be made about exposure by considering the length of time an employee is in the area, the
best indicator of a person's actual exposure comes from personal sampling since the sample is collected by equipment that is actually
worn by the employee during the work day.
Because the samples are collected at the employee's nose and mouth, they are called "breathing zone" samples. The breathing zone can
be visualized as a hemisphere about 6 to 9 inches around the employee's face. Breathing zone samples provide the best indication of the
concentration of contaminants in the air the employee is actually breathing. Two types of instruments are commonly used to do
personal breathing zone sampling: passive monitors and personal sampling pumps.
Passive Monitors Passive monitors are small plastic enclosures about half the size of a pager. They are filled with a granular solid
sorbent such as activated charcoal that has an affinity for organic gases and vapors. One section of the enclosure is open to the air.
Organic gases and vapors in the air that pass through the opening by diffusion are adsorbed, or trapped, by the sorbent material.

At the beginning of the sampling period (for instance, at the beginning of the work shift), the monitor is placed in the employee's
breathing zone by clipping it to his shirt collar. A protective cover that seals the opening in the monitor is removed, allowing air to
diffuse into the monitor. The time the cover is removed is noted and the monitor remains attached to the employee throughout the work
shift in essence, breathing the same air the employee breathes.
At the end of the sampling period, the cover is replaced, the monitor is removed and resealed and the time it is removed is noted. The
total time the open monitor was exposed to the air is calculated by subtracting the time it was put on from the time it was taken off. A
laboratory submission sheet is completed and the monitor is sent to the laboratory for analysis. The laboratory will extract the
contaminant from the sorbent and use a diffusion coefficient to calculate the concentration of the gas or vapors the employee was
exposed to and subsequently provide you with a written report containing that information.
Personal sampling pumps. One drawback to passive monitors is they are only able to measure gases and vapors, but many contaminants
exist as particulates such as dust, metal fumes or mists. A different type of personal monitor is required for particulate sampling, but
that equipment can also be used to measure gases and vapors. The sampling systems consists of two components a personal sampling
pump, which is a small battery-powered vacuum pump, and a collection media, usually a filter or sorbent tube on which the substance
of interest can be collected. The pump is attached to the worker's belt either behind his back or above his hip using a belt clip on the
pump and the collection media, supported by a holder, is clipped to the employee's shirt collar in his breathing zone. The media holder
is attached to the air inlet fitting on the pump with a short length of plastic tubing that is run behind the employee's back. The
combination of pump and attached collection media is called a sampling train. When the pump is turned on, it pulls air through the
collection media and contaminants in the air are trapped for subsequent laboratory analysis. Two types of media are commonly used for
industrial hygiene sampling sorbent tubes and filters.
Sampling with Sorbent Tubes. Sorbent tubes are small glass tubes about a quarter inch in diameter and 2 to 4 inches long that are filled
with a granular solid substance such as activated charcoal or silica gel or a proprietary substance. One end of the tube is attached to the
pump with a short piece of plastic tubing. The other end is open to the environment. Air is drawn through the tube by the sampling
pump and vapors in the air are trapped by the sorbent. At the end of the sampling period, the tube is removed, the open ends are
covered with tight-fitting plastic protective caps and it is sent to the laboratory for analysis.
Sampling with Filters. Most industrial hygiene sampling for particulates is done using a filter that is 37mm in diameter. One exception
is asbestos, which uses a 25mm diameter filter. The two most commonly used filters are made of polyvinyl chloride with a 5-micron
pore size and mixed cellulose ester with a 0.8 micron pore size. The filters look like very thin plastic discs with the consistency of stiff
tissue paper because the filters are so delicate. They are placed in a small plastic cassette to facilitate handling. The cassette is a cylinder
about 1 inch in diameter and 2 inches long. The filter is placed on a porous support in the middle of the cassette and spans its crosssectional area. The cylinder has openings on both ends, like the sorbent tubes. One end is connected to the pump with a length of plastic
tubing. The other is open to the air. When the pump pulls air through the filter, particulates are collected on the surface of the filter in
same way that the air filter in a car collects road dust. Like the sorbent tube, the filter cassette is clipped to the employee's collar in the
breathing zone.
At the end of the sampling period, the openings on the ends of the cassette are sealed with a plug and the cassette is sent to the
laboratory for analysis. When sampling with sorbent tubes and filters, the laboratory must be provided with the volume of air sampled
which is determined from the low rate of the pump known from calibration and the duration of the sampling period. Calculations for
this determination will be discussed in the next installment of this series.
Understanding OSHA's Substance-specific Health Standards
Because of minor differences that exist between each of OSHA's substance-specific standards, particularly with respect to the frequency
of periodic monitoring and the point when monitoring may be discontinued, anyone interested in doing air monitoring to fulfill the
regulatory requirements should carefully review the relevant standard and become intimately familiar with the exact requirements for
the substance of interest.
Note that the discussion below is limited solely to requirements related to air sampling. Substance-specific standards also include
detailed requirements for a plethora of other concerns such as employee training, medical surveillance, protective clothing and
equipment. Some of the provisions pertaining to air sampling that are common to most of the substance-specific standards are
described below but remember the exact requirements vary from substance to substance.
Acceptable exposure limits. Substance-specific standards establish a permissible exposure limit (PEL) that must not be exceeded and an
action level, typically half of the PEL. Both are expressed as 8-hour time-weighted averages. The action level is a concentration that is
used to establish the frequency of routine sampling and is sometimes used as a factor in determining when air monitoring may be
discontinued. For example, sampling for methylene chloride may be discontinued when two consecutive measurements taken seven
days apart are below the action level. Some substances such as acrylonitrile establish ceiling or short-term exposure limits that cannot
be exceeded over a 15-minute period during the day.
All exposures are considered without regard to respiratory protection. In other words, if the employees being sampled are wearing
respirators, the protection afforded by the respirator is not taken into account when considering the level of exposure.
Accuracy of the measurements. Substance-specific standards typically stipulate the level of accuracy that the sampling and analytical
method must meet.

Initial monitoring. Initial or baseline sampling must be conducted to determine the existing level of exposure. The results of this
monitoring are used to establish the frequency of periodic monitoring and may invoke other requirements of the standard, such as
medical surveillance, protective equipment and written compliance plans.
Periodic monitoring. The frequency of periodic monitoring varies from substance to substance and is based on where the measured
exposure is relative to the action level or PEL. The vinyl chloride standard, for example, requires monthly sampling for any employee
exposed above the PEL. The benzene standard, on the other hand, requires annual sampling for employees exposed above the action
level but below the PEL, and sampling every six months for any employee exposed above the PEL.
Termination of monitoring. Results of the periodic monitoring are used to establish when monitoring may be discontinued. For
example, the lead and cadmium standards permit monitoring to be discontinued when two consecutive samples taken at least seven
days apart are below the action level.
Additional monitoring. The standards include a provision for conducting additional monitoring whenever there has been a production
process, control or personnel change, or when there is reason to suspect other change which may result in a new or additional exposure.
Employee observation of monitoring. Some standards such as butadiene specifically require that employees or their representatives be
provided with an opportunity to observe the monitoring. This provision is to ensure that union representatives be afforded the
opportunity to observe the sampling process.
Informing employees of monitoring results. Employees must be informed in writing of the sampling results within a prescribed time
after receipt of the results from the laboratory, but the notification period varies among substances. For example, notification of the
results for acrylonitrile, lead and DBCP must be provided within five days but 15 days is allowed for cadmium and benzene.
Records. Some standards dictate specific information that must be part of the employee's exposure record. For example, the coke oven
emission standard stipulates that the record must contain the name, social security number and job classification of the employee and
the type of respiratory protection worn, if any. Sampling records must be maintained in accordance with 29 CFR 1910.1020, "Access to
Employee Exposure and Medical Records," which requires exposure records to be retained for the duration of the employee's
employment plus 30 years. The standard also requires that records be made available to OSHA representatives upon request and that
employees or their representative be provided a copy of their exposure record or the means to make a copy upon request.
Obtaining Training on Sampling Procedures
Although the mechanics of personal sampling can be self-taught (an excellent source of information for self-guided work is chapter one
of the OSHA technical manual which can be found on the OSHA Web site, http://www.osha.govwww.osha.gov), some people may find
that learning is facilitated by some formal instruction. Both the National Safety Council and the American Industrial Hygiene
Association offer introductory industrial hygiene courses that include instruction on sampling. Some colleges and universities also offer
short courses on air sampling. State OSHA consultation programs may also be willing to provide some hands-on training.
If you have your own sampling equipment, another option which may not occur to many people, but provides an excellent way of
obtaining very practical customized instruction at relatively low cost, is to arrange for some one-on-one tutoring from a local industrial
hygiene consultant in your area.
This option offers a number of significant advantages. The cost for a few hours of an industrial hygienist's time will probably be less
than the cost of attending a formal course and you would also have your tutor's full attention rather than being just one other person in
a large group. Perhaps the two biggest advantages of this approach are that you can receive hands-on instruction on the specific
equipment you will actually be using, and that the instruction and hands-on practice can take place in the environment where you will
be sampling and with some of the workers you will eventually be sampling, rather than merely practicing in an artificial classroom
simulation. With a certified industrial hygienist working right next to you, you will be able to discuss at length any questions you have
about calibration using the equipment in the field or handling and processing your samples.
Once you develop proficiency in the procedures, you can begin doing the periodic sampling required by the standard on your own. Many
industrial hygienists probably would be delighted to share some of their knowledge and experience with an enthusiastic disciple. And
establishing a regular working relationship with an industrial hygienist affords you the opportunity to discuss any other concerns you
may have about such things as respirator selection, respirator fit testing or installation of a ventilation system to reduce exposure.
Table I: OSHA Substance-specific Health Standards
Substance 29 CFR 1910
Asbestos: .1001
Vinyl chloride: .1017
Inorganic arsenic: .1018
Lead: .1025
Cadmium: .1027
Benzene: .1028
Coke oven emissions: .1029

Cotton dust: .1043

1,2 -Dibromo-3-chloropropane: .1044
Acrylonitrile: .1045
Ethylene oxide: .1047
Formaldehyde: .1048
4,4'-Methylene-dianaline: .1050
Methylene chloride: .1051

Yes, Even You Can Do Industrial Hygiene Air Sampling Part II

In the second installment of our series, Contributing Editor John Rekus explains the nuts and bolts of personal
sampling pumps.
Jun 26, 2003 John Rekus
In part one of this series (May 2003), we explained the need for personal sampling, reviewed passive monitors
and personal sampling pumps, and examined OSHA's substance-specific standards and their monitoring
requirements. There is not much more to explain about the use of passive monitors, so this article focuses on
pump sampling systems, which can be used for sampling particulates as well as gaseous contaminants.
Obtaining equipment. The purpose of the personal sampling pump is to draw air at a known flow rate through
a collection media, and any device that will do so is acceptable. What distinguishes one manufacturer's pump
from another are the features it offers. For example, some pumps include a built-in digital clock that displays
the running time of the sample. Others have a feature that allows the pump to shut itself down at a preset time.
There are two features that many people may find very beneficial. One is a pump that affords a broad range of
flow rates. Some sampling methods dictate flow rates as low as a few hundred milliliters per minute while
others require flow rates as high as a few liters per minute. It is advantageous to have a pump that allows
sampling over a wide range of flow rates so you will be equipped to do sampling no matter what flow rate is
required by the method. Some manufacturer's pumps can be easily switched between providing a low flow rate
or a high flow rate. On the other hand, if all you will ever sample for is metals where the sampling method
stipulates a flow rate of 2 liters per minute regardless of the metal you are sampling for, then having a broad
flow rate range is less important. Instead, the important thing is to be sure the pump you select is capable of
maintaining a flow rate of 2 liters per minute.
Another useful feature is a pump that provides a constant flow rate when sampling for particulates. The flow
rate decreases as the filter begins to load up with the particles you are collecting. Some pumps sense the
pressure drop caused by the loading and compensate for it to maintain a constant flow.
My counsel is to invite a variety of vendors in to explain the various features of their products and then select
the pump whose features best suit your particular needs. Another consideration is whether to purchase or to
rent. While this decision is often based primarily on economic considerations, the convenience of having
immediate access to equipment you own should not be overlooked. For example, you may want to address
employee concerns about an unusual release as soon as you hear about it, rather than two days later when your
rental equipment arrives. On the other hand, renting equipment provides a relatively easy and inexpensive way
to get started immediately. Monthly rental fees for pumps can be less than $300, making them affordable even
for low-budget operations.
Choosing a laboratory. As a practical matter, only laboratories accredited by the American Industrial Hygiene
Association (AIHA) should be used to analyze personal air samples. A listing of all accredited labs can be found
on the AIHA Web site (www.aiha.org). These laboratories have demonstrated they have not only the equipment
and staff necessary to analyze industrial hygiene samples, but they follow generally accepted analytical
methods such as those validated by NIOSH and have a quality assurance program to ensure the accuracy of the
analytical results. Part of the accreditation process includes a site visit from AIHA representatives who observe
the lab's facilities and operations.
There are two very practical reasons for identifying a laboratory before performing air sampling. First is that
sampling media are provided by the laboratory as part of the analytical fee you are paying. Second, the
laboratory will provide you with a manual of sampling methods which removes much of the mystery of
sampling. Methods manuals typically include a matrix showing the sampling parameters for each substance.
These parameters include the type of collection media required, the pump flow rate, the minimum sample
volume required and any special handling requirements. For example, some samples must be refrigerated after
collection. It is fairly common to submit samples to the laboratory via an overnight service such as Fed Ex, or
they can be hand-delivered if within driving distance. The submittal paperwork should include a chain-ofcustody log that is signed each time a sample is transferred from one person to another.
A field data collection form. A data collection form is a useful tool for recording information in the field. Typical
information that should be noted includes: the identity of the employee being sampled, the date the sample was
collected, the identification number you have assigned to the sample, and the pump serial number or other
identifier such as an inventory number that can be used to identify the specific pump used to collect the
sample. The form should also include: the signature of the person who collected the sample, the time the
sampling pump was turned on and the time it was turned off, the pump flow rate setting, the calibrated flow

rate at that setting and a description of what the employee was doing during the sampling period in sufficient
detail to refresh your memory when you receive the results from the laboratory.
Friendly data collection forms that meet your specific needs can be easily prepared using the table feature of a
word processing program to produce a columnar form with fields for related elements such as employee name,
sample number, time on and off, etc. Since total time and flow rate are multiplied to obtain the sample volume,
placing those three columns side by side can simplify completion.
Calibration. The volume of air drawn through the collection media must be accurately measured since the air
volume is critical to determining the concentration of the contaminant being measured. Air flow rate in the
field is often measured with a rotometer. A rotometer is a slightly tapered glass tube that contains a small
lightweight float, most often a small plastic ball. When suction is provided at the top of the tube, air flowing in
from the bottom causes the ball to rise in the resulting air current. The tube is scribed with lines that allow the
height of the ball to be measured; the faster air flows through the tube, the higher the ball will rise. Many
personal sampling pumps have a rotometer built in as an integral part of the pump's case. This is another
feature that many people find convenient.
The numbers on the scribed markings may provide an approximate flow rate, but the rotometer must be
calibrated to determine the exact flow rate at a particular setting. For example, adjusting the flow control to a
setting of 2 may produce a flow rate of approximately 2 liters per minute, but calibration is required to
determine the flow rate more exactly. When reading a rotometer, the reading should be taken from the largest
part of the float, since most of the floats used are spherical. The reading should be made the using the ball's
diameter; in other words, reading the center of the ball. Such readings are usually reported as "cob," meaning
center of ball - for example, 3cob.
The first generation of calibration equipment consisted of nothing more than an inverted 1,000 millimeter
burette. A burette is a glass cylinder whose volume is known very accurately. Since the intended function of a
burette was to dispense liquids, one end was tapered to a point through which a liquid could be dispensed by
opening a stop cock or relaxing a tubing clamp. Burettes were marked with gradations along their length
indicating the volume at various levels. The markings included a zero level and a full capacity, which for a
burette commonly used for calibrating personal sampling pumps was 1,000 milliliters or one liter. When used
as a calibration tool, the burette is inverted and supported by a ring stand so that the tapered end is at the top.
A piece of plastic tubing is connected from the tapered end of the burette to the air inlet fitting on the pump. A
media of the same type that would be used to collect the sample was placed in line to mimic the same
restriction to flow that would be encountered when sampling. The pump is used with that medium. The pump
is switched on and the flow rate is adjusted to rotometer reading.
For example, for a cob reading of 1, air is drawn in through the large open bottom end of the burrette and flows
up to the pointed end connected to the pump when a beaker containing a soap solution like that used by
children for blowing bubbles is raised so the soap solution touches the lip of the opening at the bottom of the
burrette. A thin soap bubble disc forms over the burette's cross-section and it is slowly drawn up the inside of
the burette by the air flow created by the pump's suction. When the bubble passes the zero mark on the burette,
the person doing the calibration starts a stop watch. When the soap bubble reaches the 1,000 millimeter mark,
the person stops the stopwatch. The time it takes for the bubble to move through the volume of 1,000 milliliters
is used to calculate the flow rate. For example, if the bubble takes 60 seconds to displace 1,000 milliliters or 1
liter volume of the burette, the flow rate is 1 liter per minute, since it took the bubble one minute to displace 1
liter of air. If the bubble passes through the 1,000 milliliter burette in 30 seconds, or a half minute, the flow
rate is 2 liters per minutes since 1 liter was displaced in the first 30 seconds. Two liters are displaced in the
second 30 seconds, making up one minute. If the bubble displaces 1 liter in 15 seconds, the flow rate is 4 liters
per minute, since an additional liter is displaced in each of the three other 15 second increments making up one
full minute.
Any intermediate flow rate is calculated simply by dividing 60 by the time in seconds it takes the bubble to
travel through the 1,000 milliliters of the burette volume. For example, if the bubble takes 30.8 seconds, the
flow rate is 60/30.8 or 1.95 liters/minute. If the soap bubble takes 63 seconds, the flow is calculated as 60/63
or .95 liters per minute or 950 milliliters per minute.
Typically, three separate measurements are made and the average of these three reading is used as the flow rate
at the specific setting to which the rotometer is adjusted. For example, the results for the individual runs may
have indicated flow rates of 1.1 lpm, 1.2 lpm and 1.3 lpm. The average of these three measurements is 1.2 lpm,
which indicates the actual flow rate for a rotometer setting of 1 cob.

Although glass burette soap bubble flow meters are still used today and provide a high degree of accuracy,
pump calibrators have evolved, making the process simpler and more efficient. Today, electronic calibrators
exist that do away with the need to manually time a bubble with a stop watch. The moving soap bubble
principle is still used because that techniques produces very accurate flow rate results. The bulky, delicate glass
burette has been replaced by a smaller, more rugged, clear plastic cylinder. Light emitting diodes are placed
opposite photo sensors mounted on the outside of the cylinder at its top and bottom. The volume between
these two points is known very accurately.
The air inlet of the pump is attached to the calibrator with a piece of plastic tubing. The pump is turned on and
the flow control is adjusted to obtain a desired setting on the rotometer. When a plunger on the calibrator is
depressed, a soap bubble forms at the bottom of the cylinder and is drawn through the cylinder by the suction
provided by the pump. When the soap bubble passes through the light beam created between the first lightemitting diode and its companion photo detector, it starts the calibrator's internal clock. When the bubble
passes the second diode and its companion photo cell, the internal clock is stopped.
Using the volume of the tube and the time from the internal stopwatch, the calibrator automatically calculates
the flow rate and displays it on a digital readout. Additional trials that are run are averaged and displayed until
the unit is reset. The calibrator also has a data output connection that allows the calibration results to be fed to
a small data printer or logged onto a computer. Some calibrators have eliminated the soap bubble entirely and
instead, use a circular float that is pushed up the calibration tube.

Yes, Even You Can Do Industrial Hygiene Air Sampling Part III
In the third and final installment of our series, Contributing Editor John Rekus reviews the essential elements
of field sampling methodology. Jul 28, 2003 John Rekus
In performing air sampling in the field, the first step is to assemble a sampling train consisting of a calibrated
personal sampling pump connected by a piece of plastic tubing to the collection media. The appropriate
collection media for the substance of interest will be specified by the laboratory methods manual and will be a
sorbent tube or a filter, depending on whether you are collecting gases and vapors or particulates. The media is
fitted with a small holder with a clip that allows it to be attached to the employee's collar in the breathing zone.
Once the sampling train is assembled, you are ready to go to the plant area. Alternatively, you could carry the
pump and media to the field and put the sampling train together as you are placing equipment on the person to
be sampled. Personally, I find it more convenient to have the sampling train assembled ahead of time. The
sample is labeled and as much of the data collection sheet as possible filled out before heading to the field. For
example, known data fields such as the date, sample number, pump number and flow rate can be completed in
the office. It is much more convenient to perform these tasks at a desk rather than fumbling with a clipboard in
the middle of a plant where there may be leaking steam lines or grease and who knows what else dripping down
from an overhead crane.
Doing as many tasks as possible before arriving at the sampling location allows me to devote full attention to
what I am doing and minimizes the disruption caused by my presence. By being prepared, I can swoop in
quickly, brief the employee on the sampling process if I have not already done so, place the sampling
equipment, complete the missing fields such as the employee's name on my data collection form, and fill in the
time the pump was turned on and description of what the employee was doing during the sampling period.
Who to Sample
Some standards, such as arsenic, establish rigorous requirements stipulating that full-shift samples for at least
seven continuous hours be obtained for each job classification for each shift in each work area. Other standards
such as cadmium, afford more flexibility. For example, where several employees perform the same job tasks on
the same shift in the same area and the length, duration and level of cadmium exposures are similar, a
representative fraction of employees may be sampled. However, this sampling must include employees
expected to have the highest cadmium exposure.
Briefing Employees. Once you decide who you are going to sample, you will need to explain the sampling
protocol to them so they know what's going on and why you are doing it. If you hold regular safety meetings,
that forum may be a good venue to demonstrate the equipment and explain the sampling process to a number
of employees at the same time. If this is not possible, you could briefly explain the process to each individual
before you outfit him or her with the sampling equipment. You should generally explain why sampling is being
performed and provide a brief explanation of how the equipment works, that it will remain with them for the
entire shift and that they should continue to go about their normal activities wearing the equipment. They
should also be instructed not to fiddle with the equipment and to seek you out if they encounter any type of
problem with it.

Placing the equipment. Once the employee who is to be monitored has been briefed, he can be outfitted with
the sampling train. The pump is clipped to his belt. Having a few adjustable web belts purchased from a surplus
store on hand will allow you to place your pumps on employees who are not wearing belts. The media holder is
clipped to his shirt collar in the breathing zone, the plastic tubing should be placed behind his back and
positioned so that it does not present a hazard. Loose tubing can be lightly taped to the back of an employee's
shirt with strips of duct tape. The name being sampled should be recorded on your collection form as well as
the sample identification number for that employee's sample. The time the pump is turned on must also be
recorded.
Before turning the employee loose, you should determine when and where you will meet the employee to
retrieve the equipment. Otherwise, it might go out the door with him when he leaves for the day.
Monitoring the employee's activities. It is not prudent to place equipment on an employee and then leave the
area, never to be seen again. For example, you shouldn't abandon your equipment and go back to the office to
make phone calls or perform paperwork. Instead, you should monitor the employee's activities so that you have
a good idea what he or she was doing during the sampling period.
Sufficient information should be recorded on your data collection form to refresh your memory on what the
employee was doing during the sampling period. You may also want to note any activities that might help to
explain aberrations in sampling results. For example, if two employees who are nominally performing the same
job have very different work practices, you should note this because it might explain a significant variation in
their exposures. And if so, you may want to have the employee with the higher exposure adopt the other
employee's work practices.
Other reasons for monitoring the sampling equipment are to ensure that you are readily available to address
problems with the equipment should they arise and to ensure that samples are not tampered with. For
example, if you are sampling for methylene chloride and the employee you are evaluating decides to place the
collection media into the head space of a drum containing methylene chloride while he takes a break, the
sample would be biased, indicating a higher level of exposure than the employee was actually exposed to.
Retrieving and removing the equipment. At the end of the sampling period, you will meet up with the
employee. Turn off the pump, note the time it was turned off and remove the equipment.
Calculations
There are three simple calculations that anyone conducting air sampling must be able to perform. They are
calculating elapsed time, sample volume and an 8-hour time-weighted average.
Calculating elapsed time. While this is not complicated, you have to remember that time is not based on a
decimal system. There are 60 seconds in a minute and 60 minutes in an hour, not 10 and 100. This fact must be
remembered when calculating the total sampling time. For example, if a pump is turned on at 1:20 p.m. and
turned off at 4:10 p.m., we calculate the elapsed time by subtracting the time we turned the pump on from the
time we turned it off. We must remember that these figures represent one hour and 20 minutes and 4 hours
and 10 minutes respectively, not just the numbers 120 and 410. To illustrate, 410-120=290 but 4:10 pm-1:20
pm= 2 hours and 50 minutes or 170 minutes.
Calculating sample volume. The lab must be provided with the sample volume to calculate the concentration of
a contaminant. In reality, the laboratory determines the mass of the substance collected. For example, the lab
may determine that there are 3 milligrams of lead on a filter used for evaluating a worker's exposure to welding
fume but 3 milligrams is a mass, not a concentration. A concentration is expressed in units of a mass per
volume of air. Assume that a sample volume of 700 liters was required to collect this 3 milligrams of lead, and
take it on faith that 1,000 liters of air is the same as one cubic meter of air. Thus, 700 liters is the same as 0.7
cubic meters.
To determine the concentration of lead in the air, the laboratory will divide the quantity of lead that it
measured in the sample by the sample volume. So in this case, 3 mg divided by 0.7 cubic meters yields a
concentration of 4.28 milligrams per cubic meter. The laboratory will usually make this calculation for you and
report the results in milligrams per cubic meter for particulates or parts per million for gases and vapor, but to
make that calculation, the laboratory must know the volume of air sampled and it is our responsibility to
provide that. If we report an inaccurate air volume, the results obtained from the laboratory will also be
inaccurate, so you can see the importance of proper pump calibration and accurately noting the time the
sampling pump was turned on and off.

The volume of air sampled is obtained by multiplying the flow rate by the duration of the sampling. For
example, if the pump flow rate is 2 liters per minute and we sample for 2 hours (i.e. 120 minutes), the sample
volume is determined by multiplying the flow rate by the sampling time. In this case, 2 lpm x 120 minutes is
240 liters. If instead we sampled for 3 hours (i.e. 180 minutes), the sample volume would be 360 liters. Note
that you must be careful to maintain consistent time units so the flow rate in liter per minute is multiplied by
the sampling time in minutes, not the sampling time in hours. So a 2-hour sample is 120 minutes, 3 hours 360
minutes and so forth.
Calculating 8-hour time-weighted averages. Anyone doing air monitoring should be able to calculate an 8-hour
time-weighted average and there may be some occasions where you will have to do this. If only one sample is
collected and it is collected over an 8-hour period, the laboratory results for that sample constitutes an 8-hour
time-weighted average but suppose 6 hours into sampling for welding fumes, you are checking your equipment
and the sampling line pops off the pump inlet. You remove the filter and replace it with a second filter noting
the difference between the two samples by giving each a different sample number and making appropriate
notes on your data collection form. Your stopping time for the first sample is essentially the starting time for
the second sample. You continue sampling for the next 2 hours without further incident.
When you receive your results, the lab reports a concentration of 10 milligrams per cubic meter for the first
sample and 20 milligrams per cubic meter in the second sample. Since the samples were collected over
differing lengths of time 6 hours for the first and 2 hours for the second you cannot perform a simple
arithmetic average. You can't take 10 milligrams per cubic meter and 20 milligrams and divide by 2 to obtain
an average of 15 milligrams. Instead, you must weight each sample for the period of time over which it was
collected. Although this may sound complicated, it isn't. You simply take the first concentration and multiply it
by its sampling time and add it to the second concentration time's first sampling time and divide all of this by
the total sampling time. If there are more samples taken, you continue in a similar fashion expressed
symbolically as an equation. The formula looks like this:
[(C1T1)+(C2T2)+(C3T3)]/T total = 8-hour time-weighted average
Where C1 is the concentration of first sample: in our example, 10g/m3
T1 is sampling time for the first sample: in our example, 6 hours
C2 is the concentration of the second sample: in our example 20 mg/m3
T2 is the sampling time for the second sample 2 hours
So our example yields:
[(C1T1)+(C2T2)]/total time = [(10x6)+(20x2)]/8 hours = [(60)+(40)]/8 = (100)/8 = 12.5 mg/m3
Note that 8-hour TWA of 12.5 mg/m3 is a much different than the simple arithmetic average of 15 mg/m3