OBJECTIVES In order to measure occupational exposure concentrations of ethyl tertiary-butyl ether (ETBE), we developed a diffusive sampling method for monitoring ETBE and performed an ETBE exposure assessment. METHODS The applicability of diffusive samplers was examined by exposing the samplers to ETBE vapor in test chambers. The personal exposure levels of workers and airborne concentrations...

AIMS (1) To obtain an overall estimate of variability of personal exposure of Paris office workers to fine particles (PM(2.5)) and nitrogen dioxide (NO(2)), and to quantify their microenvironmental determinants. (2) To examine the role of potential determinants of indoor concentrations. METHODS Sixty two office workers in a Paris municipal administration (all non-smokers) were equipped with p...

Existing samplers for the collection of bioaerosols have been designed with the aim of maintaining biological stability of the collected material, and in general do not select particles in accordance with international conventions for aerosol sampling. Many have uncharacterised sampling eciencies and few are designed as personal samplers. If standard personal dust samplers are used for bioaero...

Assessing personal exposure to air pollution has long proven challenging due to technological limitations posed by the samplers themselves. Historically, wearable aerosol monitors have proven to be expensive, noisy, and burdensome. The objective of this work was to develop a new type of wearable monitor, an ultrasonic personal aerosol sampler (UPAS), to overcome many of the technological limita...

Exposure to various chemicals can cause adverse effects to health, such as asthma and allergies, especially in children. Data on personal exposure levels in children are scarce, thus small lightweight diffusive mini-samplers for aldehydes and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were designed to measure the exposure level of children to these chemicals. The aim of the study was to validate and exa...

We used personal air samplers to measure indoor air exposure to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) for 20 residents of the Greater Boston Area (Massachusetts). Area air measures were simultaneously collected from two rooms in each participant's home. Total personal air concentrations (particulate + vapor) were 469 pg/m3 for non-209 BDEs and 174 pg/m3 for BDE 209, significantly higher than b...

Adsorbent tube samples are collected by drawing workplace air through either coconut shell charcoal or Anasorb 747 tubes with personal sampling pumps. Diffusive samples are collected by exposing either 3M 3520 Organic Vapor Monitors (OVMs) or SKC 575-002 Passive Samplers to workplace air. Samples are desorbed with 60/40 (v/v) N,N-dimethylformamide/carbon disulfide (DMF/CS2) and analyzed by gas ...

Urban soil may be a source of occupational exposure to various pollutants in gardening and land cultivation. This paper presents data of a one-year follow-up of lead, cadmium, nickel, chromium, and vanadium in the environment of the city of Bologna. Samples of soil and leaves were collected at three locations; gardens from the inner-city high-traffic area, parks in moderate-traffic area, and pa...

We conducted a pooled analysis to investigate the relationship between exposure to elemental mercury in air and resulting urinary mercury levels, specifically at lower air levels relevant for environmental exposures and public health goals (i.e., < 50 microg/m3 down to 1.0 microg/m3). Ten studies reporting paired air and urine mercury data (149 samples total) met criteria for data quality and s...

OBJECTIVES To date, the scientific source materials usually focus on microbial contamination of the museum or library collections themselves, while the exposure of persons who professionally deal with this type of objects in cultural heritage conservation laboratories is ignored. MATERIAL AND METHODS The study was carried out in 9 naturally ventilated conservation laboratories with no history...