Development and Validation of Methods for Sampling and Analysis of Workplace Toxic Substances

Methods for sampling and analyzing 130 toxic workplace substances were evaluated. Analytical methods were developed and tested for the toxic substance. The sensitivity and specificity of the method were evaluated and the response to known interferences was determined. An appropriate sample collection medium was chosen and spiked with known amounts of the test substance. An efficient recovery procedure was developed. The analytic recovery of the substance from the sampling medium was then determined and the precision was evaluated. The efficiency of the sampling procedure with known air concentrations of the toxic substance was tested. Based on the results of the validation tests, an evaluation was made of the precision and accuracy of the analytical method alone and of the sampling and analytical method as a whole. Of the 130 substances studied on this program, methods were developed and validated for 92 substances. The authors conclude that these methods will provide a means by which worker exposures to specific toxic substances can be determined.

Development and Validation of Methods for Sampling and Analysis of Workplace Toxic Substances