Study of the performance of semi-volatile organic aerosol samplers

Quantifying semi-volatile organic aerosols in workplace air is a critical step in assessing employee exposure to these types of aerosols. Indeed, numerous organic compounds coexist both in particulate and gaseous form. However, the sampling methods for organic compounds have traditionally been developed solely for the analysis of the gaseous phase, while the aerosol measurement methods have focused on the particulate phase. Thus, neither measurement principle is capable of reliably assessing the real exposure of employees to a mixture of particles and vapours. A growing need for assessing the sampling devices for these types of aerosols has become apparent, in particular during requests for assistance in assessing exposure to semi-volatile organic compounds. To respond to this need, this study proposes assessing the sampling efficiency of commonly used devices in accordance with a methodology comprising two main axes. The first axis consists in designing, developing and validating a means of generating standard semi-volatile aerosols in order to expose the samplers tested to a reference aerosol. The second will determine the sampling efficiencies of the devices tested when exposed to the reference aerosol.

The results will be exploited to construct a data base to which prevention professionals can refer when choosing the device best corresponding to their needs. Moreover, these results will be exploited by way of publication in a journal with a review committee and participation at an international congress.