A comparison of historic Asbestos measurements using a thermal precipitator with the membrane filter-phase contrast microscopy method

摘要

The published results and analytical methods used in a 1938 survey of the spinning area in a UK crocidolite asbestos factory have been describe and re-interpreted, by comparing the method used with the current membrane filter-phase microscopy(MF-PCM)method for asbestos. By good fortune, most of the original microscope, and thermal precipitator sampling heads similar to those used for sampling were available, as well as guidance from the factor inspector who collected and analysed the original samples. A textile grade crocidolite asbestos was used to generate a fibrous dust cloud whose size distribution was characterised by scanning and transmission electron microscopy and found to give a close approximation t the fibre size distributions monitored in 1938.