Dealing with chemical risks from ancient times to the 21st century: A review of air sampling and analysis techniques

Abstract

The air sampling and analysis for dealing with chemical risks started in the second half of the 1800s, where a significant role was played by the mining industry relating to dust, carbon mono– and dioxide, and fumes from explosive events. The military industry should be credited with the initiation of exposure control categorization utilizing industrial hygiene (IH) basis with its work. However, despite its relatively long history, air monitoring in IH is still developing. Miniaturization and automation have been increasingly applied in IH during the last ten years, resulting in savings in both time and costs throughout the sampling process. To date, the development of sampling strategies and related devices is constantly evolving: the goal is to develop monitoring systems capable of assessing exposure scenarios in line with the reference limit values, which are constantly being updated downwards. The current situation of air monitoring in IH, concerning analytical instruments, software, devices for performing both personal and environmental sampling are presented. The basics of air contaminants monitoring have been  divided into eight topics. The sampling strategies and related devices described are introduced with a historical perspective, from 1873 to date, underlining their continuous evolution. This review aims to represent a useful tool to face different exposure scenarios in IH, showing the most common accessible sampling strategies and the sampling devices available on the market.