End-of-Shift Monitoring of Respirable Crystalline Silica: A Critical Review of Measurement Techniques and Factors Influencing Accurate Measurements

Abstract

This article presents the findings of a systematic literature review focusing on the impact of interferences in host materials on Respirable Crystalline Silica (RCS) measurement, and the development of a validated method of calibration for RCS instrumentation for in-field use. The impact of interferences in host materials on RCS measurement has been shown to be critical information required for in-field use of portable RCS devices. Portable RCS instruments such as FTIR and XRD have been established to have good sensitivity for measurement but relatively low specificity due to interference in host materials. It has been shown that correction factors are needed to be applied to account for known interferences, especially when calibrating portable RCS instrumentation in-field. The potential to obtain reliable and repeatable results from RCS analysis instrumentation has also been demonstrated. There was significant evidence that interference materials could be present in host materials, and they influence RCS measurement. There is the potential and possibility of using portable RCS instrument for in-field measurement however the challenge is the calibration of such instrumentation in the field to account for changing host materials and thus potential interferences.

Keywords:

• Interference
• measurement
• real time
• respirable crystalline silica
• workplace

Declaration of interest statement

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.