Video Exposure Monitoring—A Means of Studying Sources of Occupational Air Contaminant Exposure, Part 2—Data Interpretation

Abstract Excessive exposures to air contaminants can be determined by conventional sampling with pumps and sampling media; however, such results do not provide insights into the reasons for the excessive exposures. The analog or digital output from direct-reading instruments can be captured by using data-logging equipment. While data are being logged from direct-reading instruments, the activities in the workplace can be recorded using a video camera. These data can be analyzed to find reasons for excessive air contaminant exposures. Three approaches have been used to quantitatively present the results of real-time sampling. First is the use of descriptive statistics to describe the data. Frequently, useful insights can be obtained from descriptive statistics and graphs. When activities in question are sufficiently separated in time, this can be a very fruitful approach. At other times, a second approach, statistical analysis, may be needed to evaluate whether a certain activity is causing an increase in ...