Wearable real-time direct reading naphthalene and VOC personal exposure monitor

Naphthalene has been identified by the National Research Council as a serious health hazard for personnel working with jet fuels and oil-based sealants containing naphthalene. We are developing a family of miniature, self-contained, direct reading personal exposure monitors (PEMs) to detect, differentiate, quantify, and log naphthalene and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the breathing zone of the wearer or in the hands of an industrial hygienist with limits of detection in the low parts per billion (ppb) range. The VOC Dosimeter (VOCDos) described here is a PEM that provides real-time detection and data logging of exposure as well as accumulated dose, with alarms addressing long term and immediate exposure limits. We will describe the sensor, which employs optical methods with a unique excitation source and rapidly refreshable vapor concentrator. This paper addresses the rapidly increasing awareness of the health risks of inhaling jet fuel vapors by Department of Defense (DOD) personnel engaged in or around jet fueling operations. Naphthalene is a one to three percent component of the 5 billion gallons of jet fuels used annually by DOD. Naphthalene is also a component of many other petroleum products such as asphalt and other oil-based sealants. The DOD is the single largest user of petroleum fuels in the United States (20% of all petroleum fuel used). The VOCDos wearable sensor provides real-time detection and data logging of exposure as well as accumulated dose. We will describe the sensor, which employs endogenous fluorescence from VOCs accumulated on a unique, rapidly refreshable, patent-pending concentrator, excited by a unique deep ultraviolet excitation source.