DustTrak
As part of the standard Environics asbestos assessor's field kit is the DustTrak 8520 Aerosol Dust Monitor. This instrument is used in combination with airborne fibre monitoring, tape testing, and field microscopes including desk top (fibre counting) and hand held scopes for inspecting walls and floors directly.
The following is an overview of the DustTrak 8520 model:
The DustTrak 8520 dust monitor is a portable, battery-operated laser photometer with real-time mass concentration readout and data logging capability. The monitor provides reliable exposure assessment by measuring particle concentrations corresponding to respirable size, PM10, PM2.5 or PM1.0 size fractions.
Suitable for clean office settings as well as harsh industrial workplaces and outdoor applications, the aerosol monitor detects potential problems with airborne contaminants such as dust, smoke, fumes and mists. The DustTrak 8520 aerosol monitor is easy to use. You can perform quick spot checks or program the advanced logging modes for long-term unattended sampling.
For outdoor applications, the unit is available with an Environmental Enclosure, or for remote applications we have the ECO Dust Management Station which incorporates a solar powered, remote telemetry system with SMS alarms.
Features & Benefits
Integrated pump allows use of size-selective aerosol inlet conditioners.
Measure particle concentrations corresponding to respirable, PM10, PM2.5 and PM1.0 size fractions.
Displays real-time concentration (mg/m3) during sampling.
Display statistics: max, min. and average readings and elapsed time.
Alarm set point from 0.002 to 100 mg/m3.
Analogue output allows remote access to real-time particle concentration data.
Sheath air system keeps optics chamber clean for improve reliability and low maintenance.
Applications
Ambient/work area monitoring.
Site perimeter monitoring/environmental sampling.
Indoor air quality studies.
Engineering studies.
Outdoor unattended environmental monitoring.
Asbestos Assessments
It is also used in relation to asbestos assessments to detect the presence of a breach in an isolation encapsulation, to ensure that the filtration system of negative air ventilation are working, and to anticipate when a clean air environment is present (purged enclosure) so that airborne fibre monitoring can take place. Environics technicians pay particular attention to the values for PM10. This value is representative of the suspended particulate matter (SPM) made up of respirable suspended particle (RSP; particles with diameter of 10 microns or less. Respirable asbestos is categorised as being less than 3 microns wide, more than 5 microns long, and have a width ratio of 3:1. For this reason, the DustTrak is a valuable tool in their assessor's field kit.
