113 Nanoparticle Exposure Assessment

Assessment of nanoparticle exposure is not an established routine among occupational hygienists. One of the discussions is about methods of quantification, if we should use number concentration, surface concentration or mass concentration for assessment, this is however also influenced by the access to proper measurement equipment. In this paper we discuss five available methods for exposure assessment. One is the Discmini from Testo, which has the advantage that it could be used for personal measurements, but on the other hand has some limitation according to measurement principles; used for Chimney sweepers. Another is the Nanoscan SMPS from TSI, which not is portable for personal measurements, but still is battery operated and could be moved around at a workplace, Nanoscan SMPS measure particle size distribution; this instrument have been used for logbook measurements among Ferrosilicon alloy workers. Number three is the Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer and the Fast mobility particle sizers from TSI , which is large, power demanding and only useable for stationary measurements, but on the other hand highly demandable for quantification. Number four is the Fast Mobility Particle Sizer, also from TSI, with the advantage of 1 second measurements, used in Ferroalloy industry and among Fire fighters. The fifth is the ELPI instrument from Dekati, which enable collection of samples for subsequent analysis on electron microscope, used in Ferroalloy industry. In this poster we compare type of results and discuss the advantages and disadvantages with the different methods and how useful they are for exposure assessment.