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

 Q.

MONITORING OF DIESEL PARTICULATE EXHAUST IN THE WORKPLACE by M. Eileen Birch, NIOSH/DART CONTENTS: 1.

2.

3.

4. 5. 6. 7.

1.

Page

Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229 a. Health Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229 b. Composition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230 c. Analyte Choice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231 Analytical Method. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232 a. Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232 b. Instrumentation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233 c. Standards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234 d. Air Sampling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234 e. Carbonates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236 f. Sampling Artifacts: Organic Aerosol. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237 g. EC Oxidation in Helium. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240 h. Reference Materials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241 i. Quality Assurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244 Interlaboratory Comparisons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245 a. NMAM 5040. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245 b. Other Methods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245 Occupational Exposure Criteria. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248 Figures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250 References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

INTRODUCTION a. Health Effects In the United States alone, over a million workers (e.g., trucking, mining, railroad, agriculture) are occupationally exposed to diesel exhaust [1]. The widespread and growing use of dieselpowered equipment has raised concern because workers exposed to diesel exhaust show an elevated (20% to 50%) risk of lung cancer [2]. While environmental exposure is a concern, occupational exposure is a greater one because workplace exposures to diesel exhaust are generally much higher. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) considers diesel exhaust a potential occupational carcinogen and recommends that employers reduce workers’ exposures [1]. This [1988] recommendation was based on five independent animal studies in which rats exposed to unfiltered exhaust showed an increased incidence of benign and malignant lung tumors [3]. Other organizations, including the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) [3], the World Health Organization (WHO) [4], the California Environmental Protection Agency [5], the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) [6], and the National Toxicology Program [7] have reviewed the animal and human evidence, and each has classified diesel exhaust as a probable human carcinogen or similar designation.

3/15/03

229

NIOSH Manuual of Analytical Methods