Assessing Organic Chemical Emissions and Workers’ Risk of Exposure in a Medical Examination Center Using Solid Phase Microextraction Devices

Needle trap samplers (NTS), which are environmentally friendly solid phase microextraction sampling devices, were used to obtain air samples at a medical examination center in a teaching hospital to determine the concentration of airborne xylene. The standard active sampling method, Method 1501, was simultaneously used to evaluate the exposure of workers to xylene. The concentrations of xylene were much lower than the legal 100-ppm time-weighted average (TWA) concentration. Another organic reagent used in the medical examination center, formaldehyde, did not exhibit co-adsorption along with the extraction of xylene by NTS. The use of a fume hood satisfactorily reduced VOC emissions in the workplace. Additionally, a management strategy involving chemical control banding was adopted to evaluate the emission control of xylene and formaldehyde in this work. We recommend that workers wear the NTS as a routine micro-sampler in order to protect their health