Many industrial and construction sites have the potential to expose their employees to harmful dust or vapors and gases. Inhalation is often the most important route of entry into the body and so monitoring the air they breathe is extremely important. In general, we draw a known volume of air using a sampling pump through an appropriate sampling medium. For particles and fumes, that would be a suitable filter paper or solid medium, and for gases and vapors through an absorber or sometimes an absorber/bubble tube. A typical sampling train for personal monitoring would look like this with the sampler mounted in the breathing zone; For gas sampling, a gas sampling bag is used, e.g. a bag. Background exposure can also be measured through Diffuse or Passive sampling. These are sealed badges that are opened for sampling, worn for the recommended time, sealed, and sent for analysis.
