Health hazards due to asbestos in indoor air

In the past, asbestos was often used in building work, mainly because of its insulating and heat-resisting properties. It continues to be found in numerous office buildings, public buildings and schools but is now forbidden because of its health-damaging properties. When materials containing asbestos are sawn, broken or drilled, the asbestos concentration in the ambient air increases. The fibers that enter the lungs can cause asbestosis in humans.

Ideal for asbestos, particle and emission measurement

To measure the amount of respirable asbestos fibers in the air, particle measurement is carried out as specified by VDI guideline 3492. This involves attaching a monitoring device with a filter membrane to a sampling device. The air is then sucked through the monitoring device for a few hours as specified by the VDI guideline. Asbestos particles settle on the gold-coated PC membrane. Afterwards, the membrane is removed from the single-use monitoring device and the dust lying on it is burnt. The asbestos fibers can now be counted under a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Then energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis (EDXA) is used to identify and classify the fibers that have been found. The i3 TrackPor M monitoring device is discarded after being used once. In accordance with VDI guideline 3861, the TrackPor M monitoring device can also be used to monitor exhaust air and emissions during asbestos removal work.

The i3 TrackPor membrane inside the monitoring device has a pore size of 0.8 µm and a diameter of 25 mm. It is coated with 40 nm gold on the inflow side and with 20 nm gold on the back.