Comparison of Filter and Wall Deposits From Samplers Used to Collect Airborne Lead-Containing Dusts at Field Sites

Pairs of Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM) and 37 mm closed face cassette samplers (CFC) were deployed where occupational exposures to lead-containing dusts were known to occur. Discrete particle analyses of wall and filter deposits were performed by Scanning Electron Microscopy—Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometry (SEM-EDX). From the elemental composition and projected area diameter of each particle a density, volume, and mass were calculated, and a mass-weighted size distribution for each filter and corresponding wall deposit determined. Comparison of pairs of wall and filter mass-weighted size distributions by Mann–Whitney statistical analysis shows that in only 3 of 72 examples from either sampler were the distributions significantly different that suggests that the mechanisms of particle deposition on the sampler walls for particles in this size range (0.5 μm through 20 μm) do not differ for the different samplers. Furthermore, in only 4 of 33 sampler pairs did the IOM and CFC results differ. Although these results originate from several distinct processes characterized by different chemical and physical dust generation mechanisms, they suggest that in these environments the measurement of “total dust” by the CFC and inhalable dust by the IOM will be very similar when both samplers are processed the same way with respect to the including or excluding wall deposits with the filter catch. However, these results may not be applicable to environments where larger particles exist.