Formaldehyde Five-Day Passive Chemical Dosimeter Badge Validation Study
Abstract
The utility of commercially available chemical dosimeter badges to adequately sample low-concentration formaldehyde vapor aboard Navy submarines was evaluated. In this work, badges were exposed to formaldehyde vapor at two approximate concentrations: 6 ppb and 2.5 ppb (13% and 6% of the Navy 90-day exposure limit, respectively) and for durations of 30, 60, 90, and 120 hours. Certified permeation tubes were used to generate formaldehyde vapor, which was then validated by a reference method (NIOSH 2016) based on active sampling with sorbent tubes. Badges and cartridges spiked with known concentrations of formaldehyde demonstrated extraction efficiencies of 59.26% and 69.75%, respectively. In these tests, the chemical dosimeter badges exhibited a consistent uptake rate with respect to exposure (expressed in units of parts-per-billion hours) as would be predicted theoretically by Fick?s law of diffusion, indicating that they are effective at monitoring low-level concentrations of formaldehyde for extended sampling durations. The uptake rate was observed to be 0.002 micrograms of formaldehyde adsorbed per ppb hour.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 30, 2012
- Accession Number
- ADA572545
Entities
People
- Janet M. Hughes
- Kevin Johnson
Organizations
- United States Naval Research Laboratory