Minimization of artifacts in sulfuric acid mist measurement using NIOSH Method 7903

NIOSH Method 7903 employs a silica gel tube for sulfuric acid mist measurement in workplaces. However, SO2 gas present in the sample volume can be transformed into sulfate in the sampling process causing an artifact that is reported as sulfuric acid. A sampling train incorporating a honeycomb denuder system was applied for field sampling at seven phosphate fertilizer plants to evaluate its use for reducing the artifact sulfate concentration while preserving the actual sulfuric acid mist concentration. The denuder system was designed to remove SO2 gas before the air entered the silica gel tube and to monitor SO2 concentration at the same time. A deactivation model was also applied to correct for the presence of the artifact. The denuder system had 95.7 +/- 6.8% collection efficiency for SO2 gas, and the impact of sulfate aerosol on SO2 collection was negligible. SO2 concentrations at the seven plants ranged from 34 ppb to 5.6 ppm. The honeycomb denuder system and the deactivation model were shown to reduce the artifact sulfate concentration by 70% and 39%, respectively. However, they were still higher than the sulfate aerosol concentration measured by a cascade impactor. One possible reason is the residual sulfate in the glass fiber filter and the silica gel.