The development and evaluation of a thermally-desorbable miniature passive dosimeter for the monitoring of organic vapors.

A thermally desorbable passive dosimeter for organic vapors has been developed in conformity with theoretical and practical aspects of passive dosimeter design. The device was optimized for low sample loadings which result from short-term and/or low concentration level exposure. Laboratory evaluation of this device for factors critical to the performance of passive dosimeters included the following: desorption efficiency, capacity, sensitivity, accuracy and precision, concentration level, environmental conditions (e.g., air face velocity, relative humidity) and sample stability during short and long periods of time. This device has been shown to operate in accordance with theoretically predicted performance and should be adequate for short-term exposure limits and/or low concentration monitoring of organic vapors in the workplace.