Page:NIOSH Manual of Analytical Methods - 0501.pdf/1

---

---

OSHA:  

15 mg/m³, total dust (inert or nuisance dust; particles not otherwise regulated) [1]

NIOSH:  

no REL

For other OELs and guidelines:   See references [2,3]

PROPERTIES:  

Contains no asbestos and less than 1% quartz

---

SYNONYMS:  

Nuisance dusts; particles not otherwise specified (PNOS)

---

SAMPLING

---

SAMPLER:  

INTERNAL CAPSULE
(tared 37-mm, 2- to 5-µm PVC filter melded to PVC housing) in 37-mm 2-piece cassette

FLOW RATE:  

1 to 2 L/min

VOL-MIN:  

17 L @ 15 mg/m³

-MAX:  

333 L @ 15 mg/m³

SHIPMENT:  

Routine

SAMPLE STABILITY:  

28 days minimum

BLANKS:  

Minimum of 2 field blanks per batch

---

ACCURACY

---

RANGE STUDIED:  

0.1 to 4 mg per sample

BIAS:  

0.058 [4]

OVERALL PRECISION (Ŝ_rT):  

0.059 [4]

ACCURACY:  

± 15.5%

---

MEASUREMENT

---

TECHNIQUE:  

GRAVIMETRIC (INTERNAL CAPSULE WEIGHT)

ANALYTE:  

Airborne particulate material

BALANCE:  

0.001 mg sensitivity; use same balance before and after sample collection

CALIBRATION:  

National Institute of Standards & Technology Class S-1.1 weights or ASTM Class 1 weights

RANGE:  

0.25 to 5 mg per sample

ESTIMATED LOD:  

0.075 mg per sample

PRECISION(S₁ ):  

0.031 @ ≈2 mg per sample [4]

---

APPLICABILITY:  

The working range is 2.5 to 50 mg/m³ for a 100-L air sample. This method is nonspecific and determines the ‘total’ dust concentration to which a worker is exposed.

---

INTERFERENCES:  

Moisture and static electricity can affect gravimetric measurements. Humidity control and minimization of static effects are addressed in this procedure.

---

OTHER METHODS:  

The method is similar to Method 5100 for carbon black [5]. This method is preferred over 0500, Issue 2 [6]. OSHA method PV2121 describes a similar procedure (but for respirable sampling) using an alternative sampler design [7].

---

NIOSH Manual of Analytical Methods (NMAM), Fifth Edition