Page:NIOSH Manual of Analytical Methods - 0600.pdf/1

---

---

OSHA:  

5 mg/m³

NIOSH:  

no REL

ACGIH:  

3 mg/m³

PROPERTIES:  

contains no asbestos and quartz less than 1% penetrates non-ciliated portions of respiratory system

---

SYNONYMS:  

nuisance dusts; particulates not otherwise classified

---

SAMPLING

---

SAMPLER:  

CYCLONE + FILTER (10-mm nylon cyclone, Higgins-Dewell [HD] cyclone, or aluminum cyclone + tared 5-µm PVC membrane)

FLOW RATE:  

nylon cyclone: 1.7 L/min
HD cyclone: 2.2 L/min
Al cyclone: 2.5 L/min

VOL-MIN:  

20 L @ 5 mg/m³

-MAX:  

400 L

SHIPMENT:  

routine

SAMPLE STABILITY:  

stable

BLANKS:  

2 to 10 field blanks per set

---

ACCURACY

---

RANGE STUDIED:  

0.5 to 10 mg/m³ (lab and field)

BIAS:  

dependent on dust size distribution [1]

OVERALL PRECISION (Ŝ_rT):  

dependent on size distribution [1,2]

ACCURACY:  

dependent on size distribution [1]

---

MEASUREMENT

---

TECHNIQUE:  

GRAVIMETRIC (FILTER WEIGHT)

ANALYTE:  

mass of respirable dust fraction

BALANCE:  

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

CALIBRATION:  

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

RANGE:  

0.1 to 2 mg per sample

ESTIMATED LOD:  

0.03 mg per sample

PRECISION:  

<10 µg with 0.001 mg sensitivity balance;
<70 µg with 0.01 mg sensitivity balance [3]

---

APPLICABILITY:  

The working range is 0.5 to 10 mg/m³ for a 200-L air sample. The method measures the mass concentration of any non-volatile respirable dust. In addition to inert dusts [4], the method has been recommended for respirable coal dust. The method is biased in light of the recently adopted international definition of respirable dust, e.g., ≈ +7% bias for non-diesel, coal mine dust [5].

---

INTERFERENCES:  

Larger than respirable particles (over 10 µm) have been found in some cases by microscopic analysis of cyclone filters. Over-sized particles in samples are known to be caused by inverting the cyclone assembly. Heavy dust loadings, fibers, and water-saturated dusts also interfere with the cyclone’s size-selective properties. The use of conductive samplers is recommended to minimize particle charge effects.

---

OTHER METHODS:  

This method is based on and replaces Sampling Data Sheet #29.02 [6].

---

NIOSH Manual of Analytical Methods (NMAM), Fourth Edition