Regulations such as those promulgated by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration in 29 CFR 1910.1000 designate that certain hazardous gases and vapors must not be present in the workplace air at concentrations above specific values.

This practice, when used in conjunction with an analytical technique, such as that given for organic compounds in Practice D3687, may provide a means for the determination of time-weighted airborne concentrations of many of the hazardous gases and vapors in applicable regulations (for example, 29CFR 1919.1000,), as well as others.

The manufacturer's literature should be consulted for the appropriate list of chemicals which may be sampled by a particular device.

1.1 This practice covers the sampling of workplace atmospheres for the presence of certain gases or vapors by means of diffusion across a specified quiescent region and subsequent sorption on a solid sorbent (1).

1.2 A list of organic compounds which are applicable to solid sorbent sampling where the sorbent is contained in a bed through which air is passed is given in Annex A1 of Practice D3686. Diffusive samplers may be applicable to a similar range of compounds but this must be confirmed by reference to the individual sampler manufacturers' literature.

1.3 The valid use of diffusive samplers depends on the existence of actual laboratory or field validation, or both. Guidance on validation can be obtained from published protocols (2-6). This practice is not designed to cover the verification, validation, or specific test procedures used to assess the accuracy or precision of diffusive samplers.

1.4 The values stated in SI units shall be regarded as the standard.

1.5 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.