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ASSESSMENT OF ASSAY METHODS FOR EVALUATING ASBESTOS ABATEMENT TECHNOLOGY AT THE CORVALLIS ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LABORATORY
Citation:
Karaffa, M., R. Amick, A. Crone, AND C. Zimmer. ASSESSMENT OF ASSAY METHODS FOR EVALUATING ASBESTOS ABATEMENT TECHNOLOGY AT THE CORVALLIS ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LABORATORY. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/2-86/070.
Description:
Air sampling was conducted at an EPA office building which had undergone an asbestos abatement program. The aggressive sampling technique revealed that air-entrainable asbestos remained in work areas after completion of abatement actions. The ratio of aggressive to nonagressive PCM fiber concentrations was 7.0, whereas this ratio was 3.7 for TEM analyses. Study results also confirm that under similar sampling conditions, TEM analysis detects more fibers than PCM because of TEM's better resolving capability. The ratio of TEM/PCM concentrations for nonagressive sampling was 3.0 for ambient samples and 3.3 for indoor samples; the ratio for agressive sampling was about 2. Because the PCM method does not discriminate between asbestos and other fibers and cannot resolve fibers thinner than about 0.2 micrometer, PCM results may not accurately reflect the true hazard potential.