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A Study of Area and Personal Airborne Asbestos Samples during Abatement in a Crawl Space

department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Gannon University, Erie, Pa.

B.D. Kuhn

department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Gannon University, Erie, Pa.

K.W. Thomulka

University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, Pa.

S.L.M. Sites

Northeastern Environmental Associates, Inc., Chambersburg, Pa., USA

Air sample data were collected during asbestos abate ment of two buildings using area and personal sampling methods. Abatement involved removal of pipe insula tion from crawl spaces. The two sampling methods were compared to determine if there was a relationship be tween them. A relationship was observed between area and personal airborne samples in building 2 as deter mined by correlation and regression but is most likely due to chance. One major outlier was detected for both area and personal measurement sample data sets in building 2. It was concluded that any relationship be tween area and personal sample measurements must be viewed with caution. Concentrations measured from personal sampling were statistically higher than those from area sampling. Also, the distributions of concentra tions in the samples were calculated to be nonnormal (logarithmic form). It is proposed that area sampling under-estimates worker exposure compared to personal measurements and is not applicable for exposure and hazard assessment. It is suggested that area and person al samples measure two different population concentra tions of airborne fibers. Use of area samples in lieu of personal measurements should only be employed with caution.

Key Words: Area sampling . Personal sampling . Occupational exposure • Asbestos abatement • Glove-bag

Indoor and Built Environment, Vol. 9, No. 3-4, 192-200 (2000)
DOI: 10.1177/1420326X0000900308


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