title: Comparison of lead and tin concentrations in air at a solder manufacturer from the closed-face 37-mm cassette with and without a custom cellulose-acetate cassette insert.
abstract: A polyvinyl chloride (PVC) cassette insert with PVC filter (ACCU-CAP) in a 37-mm closed-face cassette (CFC) was designed for gravimetric analysis. A customized version of the ACCU-CAP, also to be used in the CFC, was manufactured from an acid-digestible cellulose-acetate cassette insert joined to a mixed cellulose ester (MCE) filter for wet chemical analysis. The aim of this study was to compare metal particle concentrations as sampled by the customized insert (CI) in a CFC sampler with the traditional sampling method using only a MCE filter in the CFC. Thirty-nine personal and 13 area samples were taken using paired filter-based CFC and the CI in CFC samplers at a solder manufacturing plant. The CI was removed from its CFC, and digested and analyzed as a whole. The MCE filter from the typical CFC was removed for analysis and then the interior of the cassette was wiped with Ghost Wipe for a separate analysis. The MCE filter only, Ghost Wipe, and CI were separately dissolved in heated nitric acid for ICP-MS analysis. Overall, the geometric mean concentration of the filter-only (FO) samples was considerably lower than that of the CI samples, by 53% for lead and 32% for tin. However, if the FO analysis was added to the corresponding Ghost Wipe analysis, i.e., filter+interior wipe (FW), the geometric mean concentrations of the FW results were similar to those of the CI results (by 113% for lead and 98% for tin). For both lead and tin the comparison of (log-transformed) metal concentrations between the FW and CI results showed no statistically significant difference (p-value = 0.3009 for lead and 0.800 for tin), while the comparison between the FO and CI results shows statistically significant differences (all p-values < 0.05). In conclusion, incorporating the sampler internal non-filter deposits by wiping or use of an internal filter capsule gave higher results than analyzing only the filter. Close agreement between the two methods of including non-filter deposits is an indication of general equivalency.
authors.affiliation: a Health Effects Laboratory Division, Exposure Assessment Branch , National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health , Morgantown , West Virginia.
authors.forename: Eun Gyung
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: William P
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Chisholm
authors.forename: Dru A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Burns
authors.forename: John H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.forename: Michael L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Kashon
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Harper
mesh_terms: D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational / Q000032:analysis*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D005374:Filtration / Q000295:instrumentation*; D006801:Humans; D007854:Lead / Q000032:analysis*; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D008669:Metallurgy; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000032:analysis; D014001:Tin / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational; D007854:Lead; D014001:Tin
keywords: CFC sampler; Solu-CAP; Solu-Sert; aerosol sampling; internal filter capsule; metals