LCS Laboratory Inc., offers air sampling cassettes, pumps cyclone or complete air sampling kits for the sampling and analysis of crystalline silica in air. Silica is a traditional name of silicon dioxide (SO2) which can be found in the form of amorphous silica (silica gel, opal, melted quartz) and crystalline silica (α-quartz and cristobalite, among others).
α-Quarts (for simplicity we will call it “quartz”) is the most common or of silica. Common sand is 90% pure quartz. Due to the fact that sand is used in construction, chemistry and metallurgy, quartz is one of the most common respirable minerals. For example: construction dust can contain up to 10% of quartz and samp dust from aluminum plants (moulding operations) may contain up to 30%.
Cristobalite is an exotic mineral. It is formed as a result of quartz recrystallization, when exposed to temperatures of 1550-2000 °C . Natural Cristobalite is very rare but may be found in volcanic rocks. The image on the right shows cristobalite crystals in the form of “snow flakes” on black obsidian. Industrial dust may contain Cristobalite if it comes from high temperature operations such as refineries. After 18 years in industrial hygiene analysis and thousands of samples tested, it is rare to detect cristobalite in the majority samples. Most commonly, cristobalite has been detected in mining dust, or in dust from high temperature furnaces. One sample detected with cristobalite, was from a high-temperature ceramic “cement” used for furnace repair.
Silica is regulated as Respirable dust, meaning that only particles that are smaller than 10 microns should be collected. The sampling is performed as per the NIOSH 0600 procedure for respirable dust, using a cyclone and personal sampling pumps. Typical sampling lasts 4-10 hours but can be changed to accommodate your sampling plan.
The samples need to be returned to LCS Laboratory for analysis. We use the NIOSH 7602 analytical procedure, which allows us to detect Quartz and Cristobalite with sensitivity of 5 ug each. This sensitivity is sufficient for typical occupational exposure assessment.
If you want to place an order or to discuss your project please email us at your convenience.
