Chapter 6 - Industrial Hygiene

Question 1

Industrial Hygiene

Answer 1

Science and art dedicated to the anticipation, recognition, evaluation, and control of workplace hazards that may cause worker injuries or illnesses

Question 2

Anticipation of hazards

Answer 2

What type of facility/site
What type of operations/processes
What materials are present
Facility schematics for drawings available for review?
Standard Operating Procedures
SDS sheets available for review

Question 3

Recognition of hazards

Answer 3

walk-through inspection

Question 4

Evaluation of hazards

Answer 4

may require specialized sampling equipment for quantification- samples analyzed by accredited laboratory

Question 5

Control of Hazards

Answer 5

plan of action to eliminate, minimize, or mitigate hazards, which may include engineering controls, administrative controls, or personal protective equipment

Question 6

Vapors

Answer 6

gaseous form of a substance that is normally a solid or liquid at room temperature

Question 7

gases

Answer 7

substance that completely occupy a space and can be converted to a liquid or solid by increasing or decreasing temperature

Question 8

vapor pressure

Answer 8

the pressure that a vapor at equilibrium with a pure liquid at a given temperature exerts to the surrounding atmosphere

Question 9

Particulate

Answer 9

fine solid or liquid particles, such as dust, fog, mist, smoke, or spray

Question 10

dust

Answer 10

solid particles generated by mechanical action. Size range from 0.1-30um

Question 11

fume

Answer 11

airborne solid particles formed by condensation of vapor size range from 0.001 to 1.0 um

Question 12

mist

Answer 12

suspended liquid droplets generated by condensation (fogs) or atomization
size range 0.01 to 10 um

Question 13

fibers

Answer 13

particulate with an aspect ration (length to width) of 3.1

Question 14

Why air sampling?

Answer 14

to determine compliance with regulations
to assess worker exposure
to monitor implemented control measures
to evaluate contaminate emissions
documentation for legal reasons

Question 15

Grab sampling

Answer 15

collecting a known volume of air in a container for laboratory analysis or by a direct-reading instrument
Performed using direct-reading instruments or a known volume of air collected in a container such as a Tedlar Bag, and sent to a laboratory

Question 16

Personal sampling

Answer 16

Employee wears a sampling device which draws air across a filter media for sample collection which is sent to a laboratory- preferred for measuring employee worker exposure

Question 17

Area sampling

Answer 17

Uses same type of media as in personal sampling, however, sampling device and media are stationary inside a room

Question 18

Integrated sampling

Answer 18

Collecting one or more personal air samples to estimate the worker’s 8-hr time-weighted average exposure

Question 19

Analyzing samples

Answer 19

Use an AIAH accredited laboratory

Question 20

direct reading

Answer 20

direct reading instruments are calibrated for specific contaminants. Air samples are drawn into the direct-reading instrument and analyzed by several methods, including but not limited to fiber optics, photo ionization detection, or flame ionization detection methods

Question 21

sampling methodology

Answer 21

determined by AIHA ( American Industrial Hygiene Association) or OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) (or NIOSH (National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health)

Question 22

Air sampling pumps

Answer 22

most common equipment used to collect both personal and area samples
draw volumes at known flow rates through a filter/media through means of a pump
Low volume = 100cc/min to 5000 cc/min
high volume = 5000 cc/min - 30,000 cc/min

Question 23

Piston and Bellow Air Pump

Answer 23

Piston-type- handheld pump to draw a known volume of air across and absorbent tube designed for specific contaminants
Both piston and bellows used for screening purposes during walkthrough surveys of a facility to make an initial assessment of potential exposures

Question 24

Direct-Reading instruments

Answer 24

permit real time measurements of worker exposure to gases, vapors, aerosols and fine particulates suspended in the air
Multi-gas meter- various sensors installed inside meter and may include oxygen, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide and combustible gases.
Need to be calibrated, and personnel must be adequately trained.

Question 25

Cyclones

Answer 25

Used for respirable fraction of airborne particles
In conjunction with sampling filters and cassettes and air sampling pumps, cyclones are devices that discard larger particles

Question 26

Filters / Filter media

Answer 26

Used primarily to sample for particulates, such as total and respirable particulates, metals, lead, and zinc and so on
Types include: PVC (poly vinyl chloride) , MCEF (mixed cellulose ester ), glass, matched weighted, tare-weighted

Question 27

Sorbent tubes

Answer 27

Glass encapsulated tubes with various media inside. Used for sampling gases and vapors.

Question 28

Sample bags or canisters

Answer 28

used to take grab samples of gases or vapors

Positive or negative pressure can be used to fill bag which is sent to laboratory for analysis

Question 29

Passive samplers

Answer 29

commercially available sample media which is worn by the worker as a badge- diffusion through static air or permeation through a membrane- badge worn for a documented time, then sealed, and sent for analysis

Question 30

Sampling pump calibration

Answer 30

sample validity and reproducibility
pumps must be pre and post calibrated using primary or secondary standard
Primary standards- spirometer, bubble burette, electronic soap bubble flow meter
Secondary standards- wet test gas meter, dry gas meter, rotameters
Take a minimum of three measurements which must be +/- 2% of each other - the average of these three readings is your calibrated flow rate

Question 31

Limit of Detection

Answer 31

lowest level that can be determined to be statistically different from a blank sample

Question 32

Limit of quantification

Answer 32

concentration level above which quantitative results may be obtained with a certain degree of confidence- can be obtained from the analytical procedure or by consulting the analytical laboratory prior to sampling

Question 33

Upper measurement limit

Answer 33

the useful limit of (in mg of analyte per sample) of the analytical instrument

Question 34

If post-sampling flow rate is outside the +/- 5% of the pre-sampling flow rate

Answer 34

Samples must be discarded

Question 35

Target concentration

Answer 35

Estimate of the airborne concentrations of the contaminant being tested