CEN/TC 137 - Assessment of workplace exposure

This document gives guidelines on the use, calibration and evaluation of low-cost optical particulate matter sensor modules and systems for workplace exposure assessments.
This document is based on extensive laboratory and workplace tests for airborne NOAA.
This document is particularly aimed at engineered NOAA at workplaces and the sensors’ applicability for process control of NOAA-producing plants via airborne particle concentration measurements in workplace air.
NOTE   This document is also applicable to other airborne particles included in some of the tests during the prenormative research.

This document specifies performance requirements and test methods under prescribed laboratory conditions for the evaluation of diffusive samplers (see Reference [1]) and of procedures using these samplers for the determination of gases and vapours in workplace atmospheres (see Reference [2]).
This document is applicable to diffusive samplers and measuring procedures using these samplers, such as ISO 16200‑2 and ISO 16017‑2, in which sampling and analysis are carried out in separate stages.
This document is not applicable to
—    diffusive samplers which are used for the direct determination of concentrations, and
—    diffusive samplers which rely on sorption into a liquid.
This document addresses requirements for method developers and/or manufacturers.
NOTE      For the purposes of this document a manufacturer can be any commercial or non-commercial entity.

This document specifies requirements for the evaluation of measuring procedures using samplers for the determination of a chemical agent present in the workplace atmosphere as a mixture of airborne particles and vapour.
The procedures given in this document provide results only for the sum of airborne particles and vapour. The concentration is calculated in terms of mass per unit volume.
NOTE      The physical behaviour of a mixture of airborne particles and vapour is described in Annex A. Examples of substances which can be present in multiple phases are toluene diisocyanate, diethanolamine, ethyleneglycol and tributylphosphate.
This document can also be applied to complex mixtures, such as metal working fluids or bitumen fumes.
This document is applicable to samplers and measuring procedures using these samplers in which sampling and analysis are carried out in separate stages.

This document specifies performance requirements for battery powered pumps used for personal sampling of chemical and biological agents in workplace air. It also specifies test methods in order to determine the performance characteristics of such pumps under prescribed laboratory conditions.
This document is applicable to battery powered pumps having a nominal volumetric flow rate above 10 ml ⋅ min−1, as used with combinations of sampler and collection substrate for sampling of gases, vapours, dusts, fumes, mists and fibres.
This document is primarily intended for flow-controlled pumps.

This document specifies terms and definitions that are related to the assessment of workplace exposure to chemical and biological agents. These are either general terms or terms which are specific to physical and chemical processes of air sampling, the analytical method or method performance.
The terms included are those that have been identified as being fundamental because their definition is necessary to avoid ambiguity and ensure consistency of use.

This document specifies general requirements for the evaluation of volumetric bioaerosol samplers in order to assess workplace exposure and their physical and biological performance.
This document describes the procedures for the development of volumetric bioaerosol samplers as well as their properties and validation.
This document provides a description of a test facility and selection criteria for microbial strains that can be used to assess their biological performance.
This document addresses requirements to manufacturers and developers of volumetric bioaerosol samplers as well as to test facilities with the equipment and skills to carry out the performance measurements of these samplers (see Annex D for application guidance).
This document is not intended for operators who use volumetric bioaerosol samplers to carry out exposure measurements for workers at occupational settings.
This document is not applicable for clean room measurements other than for occupational safety.

This document specifies methods for the quantitative measurement of airborne endotoxins and gives general requirements for sampling on filters, transportation, storage as well as the analysis of samples.
This document provides also guidelines for the assessment of workplace exposure to airborne endotoxins.

This document specifies basic performance requirements for procedures for the determination of the concentration of chemical agents in workplace atmospheres as required by the Chemical Agents Directive 98/24/EC [13]. These requirements apply to all steps of measuring procedures regardless of the physical form of the chemical agent (gas, vapour, airborne particles), measuring procedures with separate sampling and analytical methods, and direct-reading instruments.
This document specifies requirements that are fulfilled by measuring procedures when tested under prescribed laboratory conditions due to a wide range of environmental conditions encountered in practice.

This document specifies the determination of the size-weighted fine fraction (SWFF) and the size-weighted fine fraction of crystalline silica (SWFFCS) in bulk materials by means of a sedimentation method using a liquid sedimentation technique.
The purpose of this document is to allow users to evaluate bulk materials with regard to their size-weighted fine fraction and crystalline silica content.
NOTE   For preparation of the sample and determination of crystalline silica by X-ray Powder Diffractometry (XRD) or Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) see EN 17289-1.
Specific methods for the evaluation of SWFF for specific bulk materials are specified in several annexes.
This document is applicable for crystalline silica containing bulk materials which have been fully investigated and validated for the evaluation of the size-weighted fine fraction and crystalline silica.

This document specifies the determination of the size-weighted fine fraction (SWFF) and the size-weighted fine fraction of crystalline silica (SWFFCS) in bulk materials by calculation. The document also specifies the assumptions and preconditions to be fulfilled for this method to be valid.
The purpose of this document is to allow users to evaluate bulk materials regarding their size-weighted fine fraction and crystalline silica content.
NOTE   For preparation of the sample and determination of crystalline silica by X-ray Powder Diffractometry (XRD) or Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), see EN 17289-1.
The calculation method is applicable only after experiments have shown that the results are accurate and consistently equal or higher than the results from sedimentation, as specified in EN 17289 3, for that particular bulk material.
A specific method for the evaluation of the SWFF for diatomaceous earth bulk materials is given in Annex A. Due to the internal porosity of diatomaceous earth, the general instructions given in this document are adapted in order to take into account the material’s effective density.
This document is applicable for crystalline silica containing bulk materials which have been fully investigated and validated for the evaluation of the size-weighted fine fraction and crystalline silica.

This document specifies the requirements and choice of test method for the determination of the size-weighted fine fraction (SWFF) and the size-weighted fine fraction of crystalline silica (SWFFCS) in bulk materials.
This document gives also guidance on the preparation of the sample and determination of crystalline silica by X-ray Powder Diffractometry (XRD) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR).
NOTE    EN 17289-2 specifies a method to calculate the size-weighted fine fraction from a measured particle size distribution and assumes that the particle size distribution of the crystalline silica particles is the same as the other particles present in the bulk material. EN 17289-3 specifies a method using a liquid sedimentation technique to determine the size-weighted fine fraction of crystalline silica. Both methods are based upon a number of limitations and assumptions, which are listed in EN 17289-2 and EN 17289-3, respectively. The method in EN 17289-3 can also be used for other constituents than CS, if investigated and validated.
This document is applicable for crystalline silica containing bulk materials which have been fully investigated and validated for the evaluation of the size-weighted fine fraction and crystalline silica.

This document specifies performance requirements and test methods under prescribed laboratory conditions for the evaluation of pumped samplers used in conjunction with an air sampling pump and of procedures using these samplers for the determination of gases and vapours in workplace atmospheres.
This document addresses requirements for method developers and/or manufacturers.
NOTE 1 For the purposes of this document, a manufacturer can be any commercial or non-commercial entity.
NOTE 2 For the sampling of semi-volatile compounds which can appear as a mixture of vapours and airborne particles in workplace atmospheres see EN 13936.
This document is applicable to pumped samplers and measuring procedures using these samplers in which sampling and analysis are carried out in separate stages.
This document is not applicable to:
—     pumped samplers which are used for the direct determination of concentrations, for example, length-of-stain detector tubes;
—     samplers which rely on sorption into a liquid, and subsequent analysis of the solution (bubblers).

This document specifies performance requirements and test methods for the evaluation of procedures for measuring metals and metalloids in airborne particles sampled onto a suitable collection substrate.
This document specifies a method for estimating the uncertainties associated with random and systematic errors and combining them to calculate the expanded uncertainty of the measuring procedure as a whole, as prescribed in ISO 20581.
This document is applicable to measuring procedures in which sampling and analysis is carried out in separate stages, but it does not specify performance requirements for collection, transport and storage of samples, since these are addressed in EN 13205-1 and ISO 15767.
This document does not apply to procedures for measuring metals or metalloids present as inorganic gases or vapours (e.g. mercury, arsenic) or to procedures for measuring metals and metalloids in compounds that could be present as a particle/vapour mixture (e.g. arsenic trioxide).

This document specifies general requirements for the measurement of microorganisms and microbial compounds.
This document provides also guidelines for the assessment of workplace exposure to airborne microorganisms including the determination of total number and culturable number of microorganisms and microbial compounds in the workplace atmosphere.
This document does not apply to the measurement of viruses.

This European Standard specifies a strategy to perform representative measurements of exposure by inhalation to chemical agents in order to demonstrate the compliance with occupational exposure limit values (OELVs).
This European Standard is not applicable to OELVs with reference periods less than 15 min.

This document provides the methodology for measuring the dustiness of bulk materials that contain or release respirable NOAA or other respirable particles, under standard and reproducible conditions and specifies for that purpose the continuous drop method.
This document specifies the selection of instruments and devices and the procedures for calculating and presenting the results. It also gives guidelines on the evaluation and reporting of the data.
The methodology described in this document enables
a)   the measurement of the respirable and, optionally, the inhalable dustiness mass fractions,
b)   the measurement of the number-based dustiness index of particles in the particle size range from about 10 nm to  about 1 µm,
c)   the measurement of the number-based emission rate of particles in the particle size range from about 10 nm to about 1 µm,
d)   the measurement of the number-based particle size distribution of the released aerosol in the particle size range from about 10 nm to about 10 µm, and
e)   the collection of released airborne particles in the respirable dustiness mass fraction for subsequent observations and analysis by analytical electron microscopy.
This document is applicable to the testing of a wide range of bulk materials including powders, granules or pellets containing or releasing respirable NOAA or other respirable particles in either unbound, bound uncoated and coated forms.
NOTE 1   Currently no number-based classification scheme in terms of dustiness indices or emission rates have been established. Eventually, when a large number of measurement data has been obtained, the intention is to revise this document and to introduce such a classification scheme, if applicable.
NOTE 2   The methods specified in this document have not been evaluated for nanofibers and nanoplates.

This document describes the methodology for measuring and characterizing the dustiness of bulk materials that contain or release respirable NOAA or other respirable particles, under standard and reproducible conditions and specifies for that purpose the vortex shaker method.
This document specifies the selection of instruments and devices and the procedures for calculating and presenting the results. It also gives guidelines on the evaluation and reporting of the data.
The methodology described in this document enables
a)   the measurement of the respirable dustiness mass fraction,
b)   the measurement of the number-based dustiness index of respirable particles in the particle size range from about 10 nm to about 1 µm,
c)   the measurement of the number-based emission rate of respirable particles in the particle size range from about 10 nm to about 1 µm,
d)   the measurement of the number-based particle size distribution of the released respirable aerosol in the particle size range from about 10 nm to 10 µm,
e)   the collection of released airborne particles in the respirable fraction for subsequent observations and analysis by electron microscopy.
This document is applicable to the testing of a wide range of bulk materials including nanomaterials in powder form.
NOTE 1    With slightly different configurations of the method specified in this document, dustiness of a series of carbon nanotubes has been investigated ([5] to [10]). On the basis of this published work, it can be assumed that the vortex shaker method is also applicable to nanofibres and nanoplates.
This document is not applicable to millimetre-sized granules or pellets containing nano-objects in either unbound, bound uncoated and coated forms.
NOTE 2   The restrictions with regard to the application of the vortex shaker method on different kinds of nanomaterials result from the configuration of the vortex shaker apparatus as well as from the small size of the test sample required. Eventually, if future work will be able to provide accurate and repeatable data demonstrating that an extension of the method applicability is possible, the intention is to revise this document and to introduce further cases of method application.
NOTE 3   As observed in the pre-normative research project [4], the vortex shaker method specified in this document provides a more energetic aerosolization than the rotating drum, the continuous drop and the small rotating drum methods specified in FprEN 17199 2 [1], FprEN 17199 3 [2] and FprEN 17199 4 [3], respectively. The vortex shaker method can better simulate high energy dust dispersion operations or processes where vibration or shaking is applied or even describe a worst case scenario in a workplace, including the (non-recommended) practice of cleaning contaminated worker coveralls and dry work surfaces with compressed air.
NOTE 4   Currently no classification scheme in terms of dustiness indices or emission rates has been established according to the vortex shaker method. Eventually, when a large number of measurement data has been obtained, the intention is to revise the document and to introduce such a classification scheme, if applicable.

This document provides the methodology for measuring the dustiness of bulk materials that contain or release respirable NOAA or other respirable particles, under standard and reproducible conditions and specifies for that purpose the rotating drum method.
This document specifies the selection of instruments and devices and the procedures for calculating and presenting the results. It also gives guidelines on the evaluation and reporting of the data.
The methodology described in this document enables
a)   the measurement of the respirable, thoracic and inhalable dustiness mass fractions,
b)   the measurement of the number-based dustiness index of respirable particles in the particle size range from about 10 nm to about 1 µm,
c)   the measurement of the number-based emission rate of respirable particles in the particle size range from about 10 nm to about 1 µm,
d)   the measurement of the number-based particle size distribution of the released aerosol in the particle size range from about 10 nm to about 10 µm, and
e)   the collection of released airborne particles in the respirable fraction for subsequent observations and analysis by analytical electron microscopy.
NOTE 1   The particle size range described above is based on the equipment used during the pre-normative research [4].
This document is applicable to the testing of a wide range of bulk materials including powders, granules or pellets containing or releasing respirable NOAA or other respirable particles in either unbound, bound uncoated and coated forms.
NOTE 2   Currently no number-based classification scheme in terms of dustiness indices or emission rates have been established. Eventually, when a large number of measurement data has been obtained, the intention is to revise this document and to introduce such a classification scheme, if applicable.
NOTE 3   The method specified in this document has not been investigated for the measurement of the dustiness of bulk materials containing nanofibres and nanoplates in terms of number-based dustiness indices or emission rates. However, there is no reason to believe that the number-based dustiness indices or emission rates could not be measured with the rotating drum method using the set-up described in this document.

This document provides the methodology for measuring and characterizing the dustiness of a bulk material that contains or releases respirable NOAA and other respirable particles. In addition, it specifies the environmental conditions, the sample handling procedure and the method of calculating and presenting the results. Guidance is given on the choice of method to be used.
The methodology described in this document enables:
a)   the quantification of dustiness in terms of health related dustiness mass fractions,
b)   the quantification of dustiness in terms of a number-based dustiness index  and a number-based emission rate, and
c)   the characterization of the aerosol from its particle size distribution and the morphology and chemical composition of its particles.
NOTE 1   Currently, no number-based classification scheme in terms of particle number has been established for particle dustiness release. Eventually, when a large enough number of measurement data has been obtained, the intention is to revise this document and to introduce a number-based classification scheme.
This document is applicable to all bulk materials, including powders, granules or pellets, containing or releasing respirable NOAA ad other respirable particles.
NOTE 2   The vortex shaker method specified in part 5 of this standard series has not yet been evaluated for pellets and granules.
NOTE 3   The rotating drum and continuous drop methods have not yet been evaluated for nanofibres and nanoplates.
This document does not provide methods for assessing the release of particles during handling or mechanical reduction by machining (e.g. crushing, cutting, sanding, sawing) of  nanocomposites.

This document describes the methodology for measuring and characterizing the dustiness of bulk materials that contain or release respirable NOAA or other respirable particles, under standard and reproducible conditions and specifies for that purpose the small rotating drum method.
This document specifies the selection of instruments and devices and the procedures for calculating and presenting the results. It also gives guidelines on the evaluation and reporting of the data.
The methodology described in this document enables
a)   the measurement of the respirable dustiness mass fraction,
b)   the measurement of the number-based dustiness index of respirable particles in the particle size range from about 10 nm to about 1 µm,
c)   the measurement of the initial number-based emission rate and the time to reach 50 % of the total particle number released during testing,
d)   the measurement of the number-based particle size distribution of the released aerosol in the particle size range from about 10 nm to about 10 µm,
e)   the collection of released airborne particles in the respirable dustiness mass fraction for subsequent observations and analysis by analytical electron microscopy.
NOTE 1   The particle size range described above is based on the equipment used during the pre-normative research [8].
This document is applicable to the testing of a wide range of bulk materials including powders, granules or pellets containing or releasing respirable NOAA or other respirable particles in either unbound, bound uncoated and coated forms.
NOTE 2   Currently no number-based classification scheme in terms of particle number and emission rate has been established for powder dustiness. Eventually, when a large number of measurement data has been obtained, the intention is to revise the document and to introduce such a classification scheme, if applicable.
NOTE 3   The small rotating drum method has been applied to test the dustiness of a range of materials including nanoparticle oxides, nanoflakes, organoclays, clays, carbon black, graphite, carbon nanotubes, organic pigments, and pharmaceutical active ingredients. The method has thereby been proven to enable testing of a many different materials that can contain nanomaterials as the main component.

This European Standard specifies the use of different metrics for the measurement of exposure by inhalation of NOAA during a basic assessment and a comprehensive assessment, respectively, as described in EN 17058 [1].
This document demonstrates the implications of choice of particle metric to express the exposure by inhalation to airborne NOAA, e.g. released from nanomaterials  and present the principles of operation, advantages and disadvantages of various techniques that measure the different aerosol metrics.
Potential problems and limitations are described and need to be addressed when occupational exposure limit values might be adopted in the future and compliance measurements will be carried out.
Specific information is mainly given for the following metrics/measurement techniques:
-   Number/Condensation Particle Counters by optical detection;
-   Number size distribution/differential mobility analysing systems by electrical mobility;
-   Surface area/electrical charge on available particle surface;
-   Mass/chemical analyses (e.g. Inductively Coupled Plasma atomic Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS), X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF)) on size-selective samples (e.g. by impaction or diffusion).
This document is intended for those responsible for selecting measurement methods for occupational exposure to airborne NOAA.

This European Standard provides guidelines to assess workplace exposure by inhalation of nano-objects and their aggregates and agglomerates (NOAA). It contains guidance on the sampling and measurement strategies to adopt and methods for data evaluation.
While the focus of this document is on the assessment of nano-objects, the approach is also applicable for exposure to the associated aggregates and agglomerates, i.e. NOAA, and particles released from nanocomposites and nano-enabled products.

ISO/TS 21623:2017 describes a systematic approach to assess potential occupational risks related to nano-objects and their agglomerates and aggregates (NOAA) arising from the production and use of nanomaterials and/or nano-enabled products. This approach provides guidance to identify exposure routes, exposed body parts and potential consequences of exposure with respect to skin uptake, local effects and inadvertent ingestion.
ISO/TS 21623:2017 also considers occupational use of products containing NOAA by professionals, e.g. beauticians applying personal care products, cosmetics or pharmaceuticals, but does not apply to deliberate or prescribed exposure to these products by consumers.
ISO/TS 21623:2017 is aimed at occupational hygienists, researchers and other safety professionals to assist recognition of potential dermal exposure and its potential consequences.

This European Standard gives guidelines on the measurement of the fine particle fraction of the aerosol, especially for the determination of the number concentration of ultrafine aerosols and nanoaerosols at workplaces by use of condensation particle counters (CPC).
This European Standard deals with the CPC's principle of operation, problems of sampling in the workplace environment, aspects for selecting a suitable instrument, limits of application, use of different working fluids and technologies, calibration, equipment maintenance, measurement uncertainty, and reporting of measurement results. Potential problems and limitations which are of relevance for workplace measurements are described.

This CEN Technical Report describes how the measuring procedures for chemical agents complying with the requirements given in EN 482 and either one of EN 838, EN 1076, EN 13890, EN 13936 and/or the EN 13205 series, as far as applicable, have been chosen.
This document refers on the selection of chemical agents and related substance groups and the establishment of corresponding method lists. It describes the evaluation of available measuring procedures in order to select for a particular chemical agent the most appropriate one.
This document is also intended to:
-   provide a means to compare for a given chemical agent a new measuring procedure with those listed in the database GESTIS Analytical methods [2];
-   to evaluate and rate a given measuring procedure (from an accepted source) for a given chemical agent not yet selected in the database GESTIS Analytical methods [2].

This European Standard specifies the rotating drum test apparatus and associated test method for the reproducible production of dust from a bulk material under standard conditions, and the measurement of the inhalable, thoracic and respirable fractions of this dust, with reference to existing European Standards, where relevant (see Clause 6).
This method is suitable for general bulk material handling processes, including all those processes where the bulk material is dropped, or can be dropped. It differs from the continuous drop method presented in EN 15051 3 in this European Standard, the same bulk material is repeatedly dropped, while in EN 15051 3, the bulk material is dropped only once, but continuously.
Furthermore, this European Standard specifies the environmental conditions, the sample handling and analytical procedures, and the method of calculating and presenting the results. A classification scheme for dustiness is specified, to provide a standardised way to express and communicate the results to users of the bulk materials.
This European Standard is applicable to powdered, granular or pelletised bulk materials. A standard sample volume is used.
This European Standard is not applicable to test the dust released when solid bulk materials are mechanically reduced (e.g. cut, crushed) or to evaluate handling procedures for the bulk materials.

ISO 17621:2015 specifies requirements and test methods under prescribed laboratory conditions for length-of-stain detector tubes and their associated pump (detector tube measurement system) used for short-term measurements of the concentration of specified chemical agents in workplace air.
ISO 17621:2015 is not applicable to measurements made to demonstrate compliance with long-term limit values to personal exposure with a reference period of more than 15 min.

This Technical Report specifies evaluation methods for analysing the data obtained from a type A test of aerosol samplers under prescribed laboratory conditions as specified in prEN 13205-2:2012.
The methods can be applied to all samplers used for the health-related sampling of particles in workplace air.

This European Standard specifies a performance test of loaded collection substrates for samplers for the inhalable, thoracic or respirable aerosol fractions and, as alternative, a handling test, both for testing transport losses of aerosol sampler substrates under prescribed conditions in order to calculate the expanded uncertainty of a measuring procedure according to EN 13205 1:2012, Annex A . The transport test involves shipping loaded substrates with ordinary mail, whereas the handling test uses a shaker.
This part of EN 13205 applies to all samplers used for the health-related sampling of particles in workplace air.

This European Standard specifies performance requirements that are specific to aerosol samplers, primarily inhalable, thoracic and respirable aerosol samplers. These performance requirements, which include conformity with the EN 481 sampling conventions, are applicable only to the process of sampling the airborne particles from the air, not to the process of analysing particles collected by the process of sampling. Although analysis of samples collected in the course of testing is usually necessary in order to evaluate the sampler performance, the specified test methods ensure that analytical errors are kept very low during testing and do not contribute significantly to the end result.
This part of EN 13205 specifies how the performance of aerosol measuring procedures is assessed with respect to the general requirements of EN 482, through the combination of errors arising in the sampling, sample transportation/storage and sample preparation/analysis stages.
This part of EN 13205 is applicable to all samplers used for the health-related sampling of particles in workplace air.
This part of EN 13205 is not applicable to the determination of analytical errors and factors related to them (for example the bias, precision and limit of detection of the analytical method). Where the aerosol sampler requires the use of an external (rather than integral) pump, the pump is not subject to the requirements of this part of EN 13205.

This European Standard specifies a method for testing aerosol samplers based on comparison of concentrations under prescribed laboratory conditions in order to verify whether the performance of a candidate sampler fulfils the requirements of EN 13205 1:2014
This part of EN 13205 is applicable to all samplers used for the health-related sampling of particles in workplace air.

This European Standard specifies a method for determining the performance of an aerosol sampler under prescribed workplace conditions in order to test whether the performance of a candidate sampler fulfils the requirements of EN 13205 1.
This part of EN 13205 specifies also a simple method to determine how, for a specific workplace aerosol, the concentration measured by the candidate sampler can be recalculated into that of a validated sampler.
This part of EN 13205 is applicable to all samplers used for the health-related sampling of particles in workplace air. Different test procedures and types of evaluation are included to enable application of this part of EN 13205 to a wide variety of instruments.
The methods specified in this part of EN 13205 are not applicable to tests where the performance of personal samplers is related to static samplers or vice versa.

This European Standard specifies a laboratory performance test for samplers for the inhalable, thoracic and respirable aerosol fractions, based on determining the sampling efficiency curve of a candidate sampler at a minimum of nine particle sizes. It specifies methods for testing aerosol samplers under prescribed laboratory conditions in order to test whether the performance of a candidate sampler fulfils the requirements of EN 13205 1:2014.
This part of EN 13205 is applicable to all samplers used for the health-related sampling of particles in workplace air.

This European Standard specifies the continuous drop test apparatus and associated test method for the reproducible production of dust from a bulk material under standard conditions, and the measurement of the inhalable and respirable fractions of this dust, with reference to existing European Standards, where relevant (see Clause 6).
The continuous drop method intends to simulate dust generation processes where there are continuous falling operations (conveying, discharging, filling, refilling, weighing, sacking, metering, loading, unloading etc.) and where dust is liberated by winnowing during falling. It can be modified to measure the thoracic fraction as well, but this modification is not described in this European Standard. It differs from the rotating drum method presented in EN 15051 2 in that in this European Standard, the bulk material is dropped only once, but continuously, while in EN 15051 2, the same bulk material is repeatedly dropped.
Furthermore, this European Standard specifies the environmental conditions, the sample handling and analytical procedures and the method of calculating and presenting the results. A classification scheme for dustiness is specified, to provide a standardised way to express and communicate the results to users of the bulk materials.
This European Standard is applicable to powdered, granular or pelletised bulk materials.
This European Standard is not applicable to test the dust released when solid bulk materials are mechanically treated (e.g. cut, crushed) or to evaluate handling procedures for the bulk materials.

This European Standard specifies the environmental conditions, the sample handling and analytical procedures and the method of calculating and presenting the results. Reasons are given for the need for more than one method and advice is given on the choice of method to be used.
This European Standard establishes a classification scheme for dustiness to provide a standardised way to express and communicate the results to users of the bulk materials. Details of the scheme for each method are given in EN 15051 2 and EN 15051 3.
This European Standard is applicable to powdered, granular or pelletized bulk materials.
This European Standard is not applicable to test the dust released during mechanical reduction of solid bulk materials (e.g. cut, crushed) or to test application procedures for the bulk materials.
Figure 1 gives a flow chart to provide the user of this European Standard a route through the necessary stages that need to be taken to obtain values of the dustiness of a given bulk material.

This Technical Report describes the use of photometers for the determination of airborne particles belonging to the respirable fraction and gives details on their limitations and possible uses in the field of occupational hygiene.
NOTE   Photometers can also be used to detect other size fractions of airborne particles after aerodynamic pre-separation, but these are not the focus of this Technical Report.
The method complements existing conventional long-term aerosol particle sampling and can be used for:
-   instantaneous (direct-reading) measurement,
-   time-related monitoring,
-   investigation of space-related aerosol evolution (mapping), and
-   exposure visualization.
The method enables e.g.:
-   detection and relative quantification of concentration peaks due to specific operations (bagging, sanding, etc.);
-   identification of most exposed workers with a view to more detailed studies of risks and prevention measures to be applied; and
-   detection of dust emission sources and their relative magnitudes.

ISO 13138:2012 specifies sampling conventions to define idealized samplers for estimating the deposition of non-volatile, non-hygroscopic, non-fibrous aerosols in five specific loci of the respiratory tract. The five loci consist of the anterior and posterior areas of the nasal passages, the ciliated and non-ciliated parts of the tracheobronchial area, and the alveolar (gas exchange) region.
The conventions are separated into three independent sampling efficiencies defined in terms of thermodynamic diameter characterizing the diffusive (Brownian) motion of sub-micrometre particles and four efficiencies in terms of aerodynamic diameter 0,1 μm characterizing deposition by impaction, interception or gravitational settling. Each conventional curve has been developed as an average of 12 deposition curves corresponding to 12 breathing conditions ranging from sitting to heavy exercise, male vs female, and breathing mode (mouth vs nasal breathing).

ISO 28439:2011 provides guidelines for the determination of the number concentration and size distribution of ultrafine aerosols and nanoaerosols by use of mobility particle sizers (also called differential mobility analysers). Only the particle fraction of the aerosol is considered. For ultrafine aerosols and nanoaerosols, exposure metrics such as the number and surface area concentration are important.
ISO 28439:2011 also gives guidelines for the determination of workplace exposure to ultrafine aerosols and nanoaerosols.
Specifically, the differential mobility analysing system (DMAS), now available from several vendors, is discussed. Principles of operation, problems of sampling in the workplace environment, calibration, equipment maintenance, measurement uncertainty, and reporting of measurement results are covered.
Potential problems and limitations are described, which need to be addressed when limit values are fixed and compliance measurements carried out.

This Technical Report describes the principle underlying evaluation of one or more health related aerosol fractions using an optical particle counter and details its limits and possibilities in the field of occupational hygiene.
The method complements conventional long-term aerosol particle sampling and offers possibilities of:
-   instantaneous (direct reading) measurement;
-   time-related monitoring;
-   investigation of space-related aerosol evolution (mapping);
-   assessment of particle size distribution.
The method enables e.g.:
-   detection and relative quantification of concentration peaks due to specific operations (bagging, sanding, etc.);
-   identification of most exposed workers with a view to more detailed studies of risks and prevention measures to be applied;
-   detection of dust emission sources and their relative magnitudes.
Basically, OPCs count airborne particles and are therefore suitable for measuring concentrations expressed in number of particles per unit volume of air. The applicability of the method is limited by the particle size and concentration ranges of OPC instruments, usually approximately 10-1 µm to 101 µm and 100 particles/cm3 to 103 particles/cm3, respectively.
Depending on specific conditions, the OPC method allows filter collection of an aerosol fraction, in the best case close to a health-related fraction (see EN 481), provided the OPC has the relevant sampling efficiency over its optical particle size range. If this is not the case, at least a sufficient aspiration efficiency is required to cover the size range of particles which can be detected and measured by the OPC optical system.
Converting count-based particle number concentrations into mass concentrations based on estimated particle size is indirect and therefore the accuracy of the conversion is limited by several simplifying assumptions:
-   identical optical parameters for both the calibration aerosol and the measured workplace aerosol;
-   (...)

This Technical Report describes the principles underlying the evaluation of one or more aerosol fractions using direct-reading aerosol monitors. The currently available methods for monitoring levels of aerosols in workplaces for a range of different purposes are described and details are given of their limits and possibilities in the field of occupational hygiene.
The document does not cover the sampling of aerosols for compliance with occupational exposure limits or the collection of aerosol particles for subsequent analysis.

This Technical Report specifies a method for calculating and expressing the relevant aerosol fraction concentration and its confidence interval, rather than the actually measured concentration. This can be done for any sampler satisfying EN 13205:2001, Annex A.
The calculation method follows the procedure developed and described in EN 13205:2001, Annex A and Annex F. This Technical Report explains how to practically perform the calculation.

This Technical Report gives guidance on approaches for awareness and evaluation of dermal exposure in workplaces.
This Technical Report describes strategies to evaluate exposure of the skin to chemical and biological agents qualitatively and quantitatively, e.g. to analyse exposure, as part of the risk assessment process, to investigate associations between exposure and diseases, and to evaluate control measures.
The definitions and procedures given in this document are primarily related to dermal exposure to chemical substances.
The specifications given in this Technical Report are not applicable to microbiological skin contaminants.

This Technical Specification establishes principles and describes methods for the measurement of dermal exposure in workplaces. It gives guidance on the commonly used approaches to the measurement of dermal exposure, their advantages and limitations and how these might be assessed in specific circumstances for specific compounds.
This Technical Specification should enable users of dermal sampling methods to adopt a consistent approach to method validation and provide a framework for the assessment of method performance.
This Technical Specification describes the requirements against which sampling methods need to be assessed. It will then indicate methods for agreement with these requirements. Requirements include specification of the following:
NOTE   Not all requirements are applicable to all methods.
-   sampling efficiency;
-   recovery efficiency;
-   sample stability;
-   maximum capacity;
-   bias, precision, overall uncertainty;
-   core information;
-   contextual information.

This Technical Report describes methods that are suitable for the determination of the health-related fractions of most aerosols in the workplace.
For more complex aerosols such as bioaerosols, fibres, radioactive aerosols and particle-vapour mixtures further considerations are necessary (see e.g. relevant standards).
This Technical Report is not applicable to the monitoring of airborne particle concentrations using direct-reading instruments.

This European Standard describes the analytical requirements for the determination of particulate diesel engine exhaust emissions in workplace atmospheres. The particulate concentration, averaged over the sampling duration is determined by the parameters total carbon, organic carbon and elemental carbon.
This European Standard enables users to determine occupational exposure to DPM according to a uniform approach and to obtain directly comparable results.
It is the responsibility of users to ascertain that the requirements of EN 482 under the given laboratory conditions are fulfilled.
Potential procedure-related cross sensitivities and interferences in particular workplaces mentioned in this European Standard have to be particularly considered.

This standard defines sampling conventions for particle size fractions which are to be used in assessing the possible health effects resulting from inhalation of airborne particles in the workplace. They are derived from experimental data for healthy adults. Conventions are defined for the inhalable, thoracic and respirable fractions; extrathoracic and tracheobronchial conventions may be calculated from the defined conventions.

This document defines sampling conventions for airborne particle size fractions for use in assessing the health relevant exposure from inhalation of particles in the workplace. Conventions are defined for the inhalable, thoracic and respirable fractions. The sampling conventions only describe the inhalation of particles and their penetration in the respiratory tract as governed by inertia (impaction). Deposition in the respiratory tract by other mechanisms, e.g. diffusion, is not considered in this document. The sampling conventions defined in this document apply to both indoor and outdoor workplaces.
The assumptions on which the sampling conventions are defined are given in Clause 6. The convention chosen for a specific application will depend on the region of the health effect of the component of interest in the airborne particles (see Clause 5). The conventions can be used with whatever metric is of interest, including particle count, length, surface area, volume or mass. The metric depends on the kind of particle analysis carried out on the sampled aerosol fraction. The health-related fraction concentrations defined in this document are often expressed in mass of the sampled particles per volume of sampled air in order to compare with mass-based occupational exposure limit values.
The conventions are not applicable in association with limit values expressed in a different metric, e.g. for fibre limit values defined in terms of the length and diameter of airborne fibres and the ratio of the two (aspect ratio), unless a measurement procedure explicitly requires that a specific health related size fraction is to be sampled/collected [13].
The main purpose of this document is to provide agreement on the particle size fractions to sample and their definitions. Sampling is generally carried out using dedicated samplers, for which there is no need to measure the aerodynamic size distribution of the airborne particles to be sampled. Samplers including a separation into one or more relevant sampling conventions(s) are currently available. In general, no assumptions or pre-knowledge are needed on the number of modes, modal diameter(s) or width of the particle aerodynamic size distribution of the airborne particles to be sampled.
Because there is a wide variation from one person to another in the probability of particle inhalation, deposition, reaction to deposition and clearance, this document is not applicable for determining the deposited dose taken up by an individual worker.
The conventions are primarily intended for determining workers’ exposure to airborne particles by sampling the airborne particles. This document is not applicable to large particles emitted at high speed that are travelling under the momentum from their emission, instead of being carried by the air (airborne) and aspirated into humans and aerosol samplers by their suction (see Annex B).

This document specifies the rotating drum test apparatus and associated test method for the reproducible production of dust from a bulk material under standard conditions, and the measurement of the inhalable, thoracic and respirable dustiness mass fractions, with reference to existing European Standards, where relevant (see Clause 6).
This method is suitable for general bulk material handling processes, including all those processes where the bulk material is dropped, or can be dropped. It differs from the continuous drop method presented in EN 15051 3 [4]. In EN 15051 2, the same bulk material is repeatedly dropped, whilst in EN 15051 3, the bulk material is dropped only once, but continuously.
Furthermore, this document specifies the environmental conditions, the sample handling and analytical procedures, and the method of calculating and presenting the results. A categorization scheme for dustiness is specified, to provide a standardized way to express and communicate the results to users of the bulk materials.
This document is applicable to powdered, granular or pelletized bulk materials. A standard sample volume is used.
This document is not applicable to test the dust released when solid bulk materials are mechanically reduced (e.g. cut, crushed).

This document specifies the environmental conditions, the sample handling and analytical procedures and the method of calculating and presenting the results. Reasons are given for the need for more than one method and advice is given on the choice of method to be used.
This document establishes a categorization scheme for dustiness to provide a standardized way to express and communicate the results to users of the bulk materials. Details of the scheme for each method are given in EN 15051-2 and EN 15051-3.
This document is applicable to powdered, granular or pelletized bulk materials.
This document is not applicable to test the dust released during mechanical reduction of solid bulk materials (e.g. cut, crushed) or to test application procedures for the bulk materials.

This document describes the methodology for measuring and characterizing the dustiness of bulk materials that contain or release respirable NOAA or other respirable particles, under standard and reproducible conditions and specifies for that purpose the vortex shaker method.
This document specifies the selection of instruments and devices and the procedures for calculating and presenting the results. It also gives guidelines on the evaluation and reporting of the data.
The methodology described in this document enables:
a)   the measurement of the respirable dustiness mass fraction;
b)   the measurement of the number-based dustiness index of respirable particles in the particle size range from about 10 nm to about 1 µm;
c)   the measurement of the number-based emission rate of respirable particles in the particle size range from about 10 nm to about 1 µm;
d)   the measurement of the number-based particle size distribution of the released respirable aerosol in the particle size range from about 10 nm to 10 µm;
e)   the collection of released airborne particles in the respirable fraction for subsequent observations and analysis by electron microscopy.
This document is applicable to the testing of a wide range of bulk materials including nanomaterials in powder form.
NOTE 1   With slightly different configurations of the method specified in this document, dustiness of a series of carbon nanotubes has been investigated ([5] to [10]). On the basis of this published work, the vortex shaker method is also applicable to nanofibres and nanoplates.
This document is not applicable to millimetre-sized granules or pellets containing nano-objects in either unbound, bound uncoated and coated forms.
NOTE 2   The restrictions with regard to the application of the vortex shaker method on different kinds of nanomaterials result from the configuration of the vortex shaker apparatus as well as from the small size of the test sample required. Eventually, if future work will be able to provide accurate and repeatable data demonstrating that an extension of the method applicability is possible, the intention is to revise this document and to introduce further cases of method application.
NOTE 3   As observed in the pre-normative research project [4], the vortex shaker method specified in this document provides a more energetic aerosolization than the rotating drum, the continuous drop and the small rotating drum methods specified in EN 17199 2 [1], EN 17199 3 [2] and EN 17199 4 [3], respectively. The vortex shaker method can better simulate high energy dust dispersion operations or processes where vibration or shaking is applied or even describe a worst case scenario in a workplace, including the (non-recommended) practice of cleaning contaminated worker coveralls and dry work surfaces with compressed air.
NOTE 4   Currently no classification scheme in terms of dustiness indices or emission rates has been established according to the vortex shaker method. Eventually, when a large number of measurement data has been obtained, the intention is to revise the document and to introduce such a classification scheme, if applicable.