Issue 2: 15 August 1994
OSHA: 15 mg/m³ NIOSH: no REL ACGIH: 10 mg/m³, total dust less than 1% quartz PROPERTIES: contains no asbestos and quartz less than 1%
SYNONYMS: nuisance dusts; particulates not otherwise classified
SAMPLING
SAMPLER: FILTER
(tared 37-mm, 5-µm PVC filter)
FLOW RATE: 1 to 2 L/min
VOL-MIN: 7 L @ 15 mg/m³
-MAX: 133 L @ 15 mg/m³
SHIPMENT: routine
SAMPLE STABILITY: indefinitely
BLANKS: 2 to 10 field blanks per set
BULK SAMPLE: none required
ACCURACY
RANGE STUDIED: 8 to 28 mg/m³
BIAS: 0.01%
OVERALL PRECISION ( ): 0.056 [1]
ACCURACY: ±11.04%
MEASUREMENT
TECHNIQUE: GRAVIMETRIC (FILTER WEIGHT)
ANALYTE: airborne particulate material
BALANCE: 0.001 mg sensitivity; use same balance before and after sample collection
CALIBRATION: National Institute of Standards and Technology Class S-1.1 weights or ASTM Class 1 weights
RANGE: 0.1 to 2 mg per sample
ESTIMATED LOD: 0.03 mg per sample
PRECISION (S1):0.026 [2]
APPLICABILITY: The working range is 1 to 20 mg/m³ for a 100-L air sample. This method is nonspecific and determines the total dust concentration to which a worker is exposed. It may be applied, e.g., to gravimetric determination of fibrous glass [3] in addition to the other ACGIH particulates not otherwise regulated [4].
INTERFERENCES: Organic and volatile particulate matter may be removed by dry ashing [3].
OTHER METHODS: This method is similar to the criteria document method for fibrous glass [3] and Method 5000 for carbon black. This method replaces Method S349 [5]. Impingers and direct-reading instruments may be used to collect total dust samples, but these have limitations for personal sampling.
NIOSH Manual of Analytical Methods (NMAM), Fourth Edition
