Proposed ASTM Air Quality Standard helps prevent HF overexposure.
Press Release Summary:
Proposed ASTM standard WK38734, Test Method for the Determination of Particulate Fluorides and Hydrofluoric Acid Using Filter Sampling and Suppressed Ion Chromatography, will help prevent overexposure to hydrofluoric acid/hydrogen fluoride by workers. Targeting analytical laboratories and field industrial hygienists, standard can be used to measure airborne concentration of gaseous HF and particulate fluorides at levels "well above and below" applicable occupational exposure limits.
Original Press Release:
Proposed ASTM Air Quality Standard Will Aid in Prevention of Hydrofluoric Acid and Hydrogen Fluoride Overexposure
Gaseous hydrogen fluoride is a harsh respiratory irritant; the inhalation of hydrofluoric acid mists causes severe lung damage in exposed workers. A proposed new ASTM standard, WK38734, Test Method for the Determination of Particulate Fluorides and Hydrofluoric Acid Using Filter Sampling and Suppressed Ion Chromatography, will be used to prevent overexposure of hydrofluoric acid/hydrogen fluoride to workers.
ASTM WK38734 will be used by analytical laboratories and field industrial hygienists as a reference test procedure for monitoring occupational exposures to particulate fluorides and HF vapor.
“The proposed standard can be used to measure airborne concentration of gaseous HF and particulate fluorides at levels well above and below applicable occupational exposure limits for these chemical agents,” says ASTM member Dietmar Breuer, professor, IFA. “WK38734 has been fully validated through extensive research, interlaboratory trials and field studies.”
Hydrofluoric acid is used in a number of industrial processes, including etching and polishing of glass, processing of ores, as a catalyst for producing highoctane gasoline, etching of silicon components in the manufacture of semiconductors and for removing silica from metal surfaces.
ASTM WK38734 is being developed by Subcommittee D22.04 on Workplace Air Quality, part of ASTM International Committee D22 on Air Quality. In addition to ASTM WK38734, D22.04 is currently working on additional proposed draft standards. These include ASTM WK43943, Test Method for Measurement of Respirable Crystalline Silica in Workplace Air by Infrared Spectrometry as well as a proposed standard on sampling and analysis of organic vapors by means of canister collection of workroom atmospheric samples. Participation from knowledgeable experts in these areas is always welcome.
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ASTM Committee D22 Next Meeting: Oct. 58, 2014, October Committee Week, New Orleans, La.
Technical Contact: Dietmar Breuer, IFA, Sankt Augustin, Germany, Phone: +49 (0) 2241 2312533; dietmar.breuer@dguv.de
ASTM Staff Contact: Jeffrey Adkins, Phone: 610-832-9738; jadkins@astm.org
ASTM PR Contact: Barbara Schindler, Phone: 610-832-9603; bschindl@astm.org
