Abstract

Several direct-reading instruments are available to industrial hygienists for the rapid and accurate measurement of the concentrations of pollutants present in various industrial workplaces. Although most of these instruments - regardless of whether they rely on chemiluminescence, amalgamation, electrochemical cells or some other principle - are designed to measure the concentration of gases, some are capable of measuring vapour concentrations. All these instruments are based on colorimetric reactions and are subject to many interferences which reduce their reliability.

In this project, a new monitor which uses photoacoustic detection to specifically measure a wide range of gases and vapours will be evaluated over the course of IRSST research projects and activities. The adoption of this type of instrument by researchers and specialists in the health and safety network will yield reliable and directly applicable field results.