Page:NIOSH Manual of Analytical Methods - Chapter A.pdf/1

 A.

The NIOSH Manual of Analytical Methods (NMAM®) is a collection of air, biological, bioaerosol, and bulk analytical methods that NIOSH has evaluated. NMAM will be updated as methods are developed, evaluated or revised by NIOSH. NMAM is available in looseleaf hard copy form, without binders, from the U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402 (telephone 202/512-1800), and in electronic form from various software companies that have entered into publishing agreements with NIOSH (as of the time of this printing):

ChemSW, Inc. (Formerly WindowChem) 420-F Executive Court North Fairfield, CA 94585 Telephone: 800/536-0404 or 707/864-0845 FAX: 707/864-2815 [Diskettes]

American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) 1330 Kemper Meadow Drive Cincinnati, OH 45240 Telephone: 513/742-2020 FAX: 513/742-3355 [CD-ROM with TLVs® & BEIs®]

Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) 250 Main Street East Hamilton, Ontario Canada L8N 1H6 Telephone: 800/668-4284 or 905/570-8094 FAX: 905/572-2206 [Diskettes]

John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Distribution Center 1 Wiley Drive Somerset, NJ 08876-1272 Telephone: 800/CALL-WILEY FAX: 908/302-2300 [CD-ROM with Patty's Industrial Hygiene and Toxicology, Version 2.0]

These methods are intended to promote accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity in industrial hygiene analyses. There will be situations where users of the NIOSH methods will need to modify them (e.g., to accommodate interfering compounds from the workplace, to take advantage of special capabilities of the laboratory, to make possible the analysis of a single sample for several contaminants). When method modifications are made, quality control data showing the reliability of the modified method should be obtained. For example:


 * The volume of air sampled on solid sorbents should be reduced in cases of high vapor concentration or high humidity and, in some cases, may be increased if such concentrations are relatively low.
 * The automation of sample work-up and measurement procedures usually requires some modification of the nonautomated procedure.
 * Chromatographic conditions, including choice of column and detector, can be modified to eliminate interferences during measurement.

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