Intersampler Field Comparison of Respicon (R), IOM, and Closed-Face 25-mm Personal Aerosol Samplers During Primary Production of Aluminium

Intersampler field comparison of Respicon®, 25-mm closed-face ‘total dust’ cassette (CFC), and IOM inhalable aerosol sampler was conducted in pot rooms at seven aluminium smelters. The aerosol mass and water-soluble fluoride were selected as airborne contaminants for the comparisons. The aerosol masses of 889 sample pairs of IOM and Respicon® inhalable aerosol sub-fraction, 165 of IOM and 25-mm CFC, and 194 of CFC and Respicon® thoracic aerosol sub-fraction were compared. The number of sample pairs for the comparison of water-soluble fluoride was 906, 170, and 195, respectively. The geometric mean aerosol mass collected with the inhalable Respicon® was 2.91mg m−3 compared with 3.38mg m−3 with the IOM. The overall ratio between IOM and Respicon® inhalable sub-fraction was 1.16 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.11–1.21] for aerosol mass and 1.13 (95% CI = 1.08–1.18) for water-soluble fluoride. The results indicate that Respicon® undersampled the aerosol mass and water-soluble fluoride in the inhalable sub-fraction compared with the IOM. The results indicated undersampling of the Respicon® at mass concentrations higher than 1.35mg m−3 and oversampling at lower mass concentrations. The overall ratio between aerosol mass collected with IOM and CFC was 4.19 (95% CI = 3.79–4.64) and 1.61 (95% CI = 1.51–1.72) for...