Comparison of Respirable Mass Concentrations Measured by a Personal Dust Monitor and a Personal DataRAM to Gravimetric Measurements

In 2016, the Mine Safety and Health Administration required the use of continuous monitors to measure respirable dust in mines and better protect miner health. The Personal Dust Monitor, PDM3700, has met stringent performance criteria for this purpose. In a laboratory study, respirable mass concentrations measured with the PDM3700 and a photometer (personal DataRam, pDR-1500) were compared to those measured gravimetrically for five aerosols of varying refractive index and density (diesel exhaust fume, welding fume, coal dust, Arizona road dust (ARD), and salt [NaCl] aerosol) at target concentrations of 0.38, 0.75, and 1.5 mg m-3. For all aerosols except coal dust, strong, near-one-to-one, linear relationships were observed between mass concentrations measured with the PDM3700 and gravimetrically (diesel fume, slope = 0.99, R2 = 0.99; ARD, slope = 0.98, R2 = 0.99; and NaCl, slope = 0.95, R2 = 0.99). The slope deviated substantially from unity for coal dust (slope = 0.55; R2 = 0.99). Linear relationships were also observed between mass concentrations measured with the pDR-1500 and gravimetrically, but one-to-one behavior was not exhibited (diesel fume, slope = 0.23, R2 = 0.76; coal dust, slope = 0.54, R2 = 0.99; ARD, slope = 0.61, R2 = 0.99; NaCl, slope = 1.14, R2 = 0.98). Unlike the pDR-1500, mass concentrations measured with the PDM3700 appear independent of refractive index and density, suggesting that it could have applications in a variety of occupational settings.

[1]  Laura Hallett,et al.  Evaluation of the Alphasense optical particle counter (OPC-N2) and the Grimm portable aerosol spectrometer (PAS-1.108) , 2016, Aerosol science and technology : the journal of the American Association for Aerosol Research.

[2]  R. Wener,et al.  Comparison of real-time instruments and gravimetric method when measuring particulate matter in a residential building , 2016, Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association.

[3]  Geb Thomas,et al.  Inter-comparison of low-cost sensors for measuring the mass concentration of occupational aerosols , 2016, Aerosol science and technology : the journal of the American Association for Aerosol Research.

[4]  Hakan Altan,et al.  Dielectric Properties of Diesel and Gasoline by Terahertz Spectroscopy , 2014 .

[5]  J Noll,et al.  Portable instruments for measuring tailpipe diesel particulate in underground mines. , 2013, Mining engineering.

[6]  A. Thorpe,et al.  Direct-reading inhalable dust monitoring--an assessment of current measurement methods. , 2013, The Annals of occupational hygiene.

[7]  Donald P Tuchman,et al.  Equivalency of a personal dust monitor to the current United States coal mine respirable dust sampler. , 2008, Journal of environmental monitoring : JEM.

[8]  Harvey Patashnick,et al.  Implementing a New Personal Dust Monitor as an Engineering Tool , 2005 .

[9]  A M Donoghue,et al.  Occupational health hazards in mining: an overview. , 2004, Occupational medicine.

[10]  F. Rosenthal,et al.  Evaluation of an aerosol photometer for monitoring welding fume levels in a shipyard. , 1985, American Industrial Hygiene Association journal.

[11]  Benjamin Y. H. Liu,et al.  Single Particle Optical Counter: Principle and Application , 1976 .

[12]  M. Key.  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; occupational exposure to inorganic lead: request for comments and information; republication--NIOSH. Request for comments and information relevant to occupational exposure to inorganic lead. , 1997, Federal register.