Personal Monitoring
The selective monitoring of high-risk workers, i.e. those who are closest to the source of contaminant generation, is highly recommended. This approach is based on the rationale that the probability of significant exposure varies directly with distance from the source. If workers closest to the source are not significantly exposed, then all other workers are, presumably, also not significantly exposed and probably do not need to be monitored.Since occupational exposures are linked closely with active material handling, personal air sampling should not be necessary until site mitigation has begun. Personal monitoring samples should be collected in the breathing zone and, if workers are wearing respiratory protective equipment, outside the face piece. These samples represent the actual inhalation exposure of workers who are not wearing respiratory protection and the potential exposure of workers who are wearing respirators. It is best to use pumps that automatically maintain a constant flow rate to collect samples, since it is difficult to observe and adjust pumps while wearing gloves, respirators, and other personal protective equipment. Pumps should be protected with disposable coverings, such as small plastic bags, to make decontamination procedures easier.Personal monitoring may require the use of a variety of sampling media. Individual workers cannot typically be outfitted with more than two pumps because this can become cumbersome. Consequently, several days may be required to measure the exposure of a specific individual using each of the media for different contaminants. Alternatively, if workers are in teams, a different monitoring device can be assigned to each team member. Another method is to place multiple sampling devices on pieces of heavy equipment. While these are area, not personal samples, they can be collected very close to the breathing zone of the heavy equipment operator and thus would be reasonably representative of personal exposure. These multimedia samples can yield as much information as several personal samples.