Perspec, Personal Size Separating Sampler: Operational Experience and Comparison with other Field Devices

Abstract The basic information needed for a realistic evaluation of the inhalation risk to workers and the general population from particulates is the airborne mass concentration distribution over size. Proposed international standards define the inhalable (formerly called inspirable) fraction, those particles capable of entering the nose or mouth; the thoracic fraction, those capable of entering the lungs (da < about 10 μm); and the respirable fraction, those capable of entering the gas-exchange region of the lungs (da < about 3.5 μm). In addition, the extrathoracic fraction is defined as the difference between the inhalable and thoracic fractions, and the tracheobronchial fraction is defined as the difference between the thoracic and respirable fractions. The sampling efficiency of actual devices is expected to match that specified for ideal samplers within some tolerance, e.g., ±10 percent in the 50 percent cutpoint diameter and ±0.1 in the sharpness of the cut specified by a geometric standard deviati...