What Does Air Sampling Mean?
Air sampling is the process of capturing contaminants in a known volume of air. The airborne contaminants are measured and compared against the volume of air, and the results are stated as a concentration, usually as milligrams per cubic meter (mg/m3) or parts per million (ppm).
There are two main types of air sampling that can be conducted to estimate the level of workers' exposure to a certain contaminant – stationary or area monitoring, and personal chemical exposure monitoring. Personal exposure monitoring measures an individual employee's exposure to a chemical or contaminant and area monitoring measures the concentration of a substance in a given area.