Instruction Manual

9
Transporting Samples to a Laboratory
Wear powder-free gloves when handling casse es and use forceps
when working with fi lters. Users may wish to use sterile gloves
and forceps depending on the contaminant of interest.
For gravimetric samples:
Immediately following sampling, unscrew IOM front plate and remove casse e
from housing body. Place casse e cover on casse e and insert into a transport clip
(Figure 8). Place unit into a sterile plastic bag depending on the contaminant of in-
terest. Package in a padded envelope and send to a laboratory for analysis. Include
pertinent sampling information and blanks (see Sample Blanks). If post-weighing on
the premises, see Analysis.
For chemical samples (stainless steel cassette only):
1. Unscrew the IOM front plate.
2. Remove the stainless steel casse e.
3. Choose from the following options:
a. Immediately place entire casse e/fi lter assembly into a large vial fi lled
with method-specifi ed desorbing solution and cap the vial or,
b. Immediately remove casse e top and use forceps to remove fi lter. Place
fi lter in a vial fi lled with method-specifi ed desorbing solution and cap
the vial.
4. Package securely to prevent leakage and breakage, include pertinent sampling
information and blanks, and send to a laboratory for analysis.
For bioaerosol samples:
Transport samples in vials fi lled with Peptone Inositol Tween (PIT), a biological
buff er, as indicated in Method 1 or 2 on page 10. Users may wish to place vials in a
sterile plastic bag depending on the contaminant of interest. Samples can be stored
overnight at 39.2 F (4 C) in vials or bags and analyzed the next day.
Sample Blanks
Load and handle the blank IOM Sampler in the same manner as the IOM used for
sampling. Do not pull air through the blank. Send the blank with the samples to
a laboratory.
Analysis
Post-weighing for Inhalable Fraction
Wear powder-free gloves when handling casse es and use forceps
when working with fi lters.
1. Equilibrate fi lter and plastic casse e for a reasonable time based on humidity
conditions.
2. Remove the casse e from the transport clip or sampler housing body. The casse e
cover can remain on the casse e if it was included in the pre-weight.
3. Weigh the entire casse e. Compare the pre and post-weights. The diff erence
between weights is the amount of inhalable particles collected.
The IOM casse e can be cleaned, reloaded with a fresh fi lter, and reused. See Clean-
ing the Sampler on page 3.