An interlaboratory study was carried out to evaluate the use of acid-soluble cellulosic air sampling capsules for their suitability in the measurement of trace elements in workplace atmospheric samples. These capsules are used as inserts to perform closed-face cassette sample collection for occupational exposure monitoring. The interlaboratory study was performed in accordance with NIOSH guidelines that describe statistical procedures for evaluating measurement accuracy of air monitoring methods. The performance evaluation materials used consisted of cellulose acetate capsules melded to mixed-cellulose ester filters that were dosed with multiple elements from commercial standard aqueous solutions. The cellulosic capsules were spiked with the following 33 elements of interest in workplace air monitoring: Ag, Al, As, Ba, Be, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, In, K, La, Li, Mg, Mn, Mo, Ni, P, Pb, Sb, Se, Sn, Sr, Te, Ti, Tl, V, W, Y, Zn, Zr. The elemental loading levels were certified by an accredited provider of certified reference materials. Triplicates of media blanks and multielement-spiked capsules at three different elemental loadings were sent to each participating laboratory; the elemental loading levels were not revealed to the laboratories. The volunteer participating laboratories were asked to prepare the samples by acid dissolution and to analyze aliquots of extracted samples by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry in accordance with NIOSH methods. It was requested that the study participants report their analytical results in units of μg of each target element per internal capsule sample. For the majority of the elements investigated (30 out of 33), the study accuracy estimates obtained satisfied the NIOSH accuracy criterion (A < 25%). This investigation demonstrates the utility of acid-soluble internal sampling capsules for multielement analysis by atomic spectrometry.
Keywords: Aerosol sampling; elemental analysis; internal capsule; occupational hygiene.