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 2.91 mg m(-3) compared with 3.38 mg 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 1.35 mg 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 water-soluble fluoride. Thus, for this industry, a correction factor of 4.2 is suggested for the conversion of CFC to inhalable aerosol masses and a conversion factor of 1.6 for water-soluble fluoride if wall deposits in the CFC are included. CFC and thoracic Respicon(®) collected similar aerosol masses (ratio = 1.04; 95% CI = 0.97-1.12), whereas the ratio was 1.19 (95% CI = 1.11-1.28) for water-soluble fluoride. The variability of the exposure is substantial; thus, large data sets are required in sampler performance field comparisons.