Components for the Evaluation of Direct-Reading Monitors for Gases and Vapors

Required Elements for Initial Posting

Title: Components for the Evaluation of Direct-Reading Monitors for Gases and Vapors

Subject: Evaluation of instruments used to facilitate exposure assessment and assess intervention efficacy.

Purpose: To improve the monitoring of worker exposures to gases and vapors, using direct-reading instruments.

Timing of Review: Initial review in June 2002, additional statistical review in 2004, and review of the document’s addendum in August 2005

Primary Disciplines or Expertise Needed for Review: Industrial hygiene, chemistry, emergency response, statistics, chemical engineering

Type of Review: Individual

Number of Reviewers: 9

Reviewers Selected by: NIOSH

Public Nominations Requested for Reviewers: No

Opportunities for the Public to Comment: No

Peer Reviewers Provided with Public Comments: No

Peer Reviewers:

Ronald Dunkle
Academic and Professional Credentials: B.A. (Labor Studies)
Organizational Affiliation: Contract Safety Trainer and Construction Contractor, Safety trainer for International Chemical Workers Union; A.P. Green Labor Management Safety Team co-chairman; Hazwoper trainer at St. Louis University
Areas of Expertise, Discipline, or Relevant Experience: Chemical emergency response, hazardous materials training, lead abatement
Recommended by: NIOSH

Carl Elkscamp
Academic and Professional Credentials:
Organizational Affiliation: Chemist, OSHA Salt Lake Technical Center, Salt Lake City, UT
Areas of Expertise, Discipline, or Relevant Experience: Serves on Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) editorial boards for analytical methods and direct reading instruments
Recommended by: NIOSH

Martin Harper
Academic and Professional Credentials: Dr.
Organizational Affiliation: Assistant Professor, University of Alabama at Brimingham, Birmingham, AL
Areas of Expertise, Discipline, or Relevant Experience: Direct reading instruments
Recommended by: NIOSH

Dan Hawley
Academic and Professional Credentials: M.S. (Chemical Engineering)
Organizational Affiliation: Senior Engineer in charge of commercial products, Brewer Science; Captain in St. James Fire Department
Areas of Expertise, Discipline, or Relevant Experience: Spill response team and disaster recovery team at Brewer Science; taught HazMat classes at UMFRTI
Recommended by: NIOSH

Paul Knechtges
Academic and Professional Credentials: Dr.
Organizational Affiliation: U.S Army, Ft. Detrick, MD
Areas of Expertise, Discipline, or Relevant Experience: Direct reading instruments
Recommended by: NIOSH

David Macys
Academic and Professional Credentials: Captain
Organizational Affiliation: Office of Naval Research, Arlington, VA
Areas of Expertise, Discipline, or Relevant Experience: Direct reading instruments
Recommended by: NIOSH

Gretchen Manning
Academic and Professional Credentials:
Organizational Affiliation: Group Manager for Portable Instruments, MSA, Pittsburgh, PA
Areas of Expertise, Discipline, or Relevant Experience: Direct reading instruments
Recommended by: NIOSH

Robb Pilkington
Academic and Professional Credentials: M.S. (Animal Science)
Organizational Affiliation: Assistant Professor, Nuclear Science and Engineering Institute, University of Missouri Fire and Rescue Training Institute; Interagency Board for Equipment Standardization and Interoperability (IAB), Detection and Decontamination subcommittee
Areas of Expertise, Discipline, or Relevant Experience: Program coordinator and manager for terrorism and weapons of mass destruction
Recommended by: NIOSH

Robert Weber
Academic and Professional Credentials:
Organizational Affiliation: 3M, St. Paul, MN
Areas of Expertise, Discipline, or Relevant Experience: Direct reading instruments
Recommended by: NIOSH

Charge to Peer Reviewers:

Peer Review of "Guidelines for the Evaluation of Direct Reading Monitors" and "Addendum to Guidelines for the Evaluation of Direct Reading Monitors"

"Guidelines for the Evaluation of Direct Reading Monitors" and "Addendum to Guidelines for the Evaluation of Direct Reading Monitors" will be published together on the NIOSH website. It is expected that the Guidelines and their Addendum will only be available on the NIOSH website due to the cost of producing hard copy publications. However, it is also expected that posting them on the web will make the documents readily available to a wide audience.

The Guidelines document was internally reviewed and approved by NIOSH in early 2001. In April 2002, the document was sent to external reviewers, including: Carl Elskamp, Dr. Paul L. Knechtges, Dr. Martin Harper, Robert Weber, Gretchen B. Manning, and Captain David A. Macys. Reviewers were requested to conduct technical reviews of the document.

The draft Guidelines document also served as the basis for a NIOSH contract (Midwest Research Institute, Kansas City, MO) to develop an Addendum to the Guidelines in order to address the specific needs for direct reading monitors used by first responders. In the course of this work, a statistical review of the Guidelines appendices was conducted by a contract statistician (Karin Bauer, Statistician, Midwest Research Institute, December 2004).

The contract mentioned above has produced the Addendum to the Guidelines document to guide first responder use of direct reading monitors. During the development of the Addendum, input was sought from the Interagency Board for Interoperability (IAB), composed of representatives from first responder organizations throughout the nation. A presentation was made by the contractor before a limited number of members of the Decontamination Subcommittee of IAB in August, 2003 in Chicago. There was much interest expressed in the Addendum that was sent for external peer review to: Robb L. Pilkington (recommended by IAB), Ronald Dunkle (recommended by Robb Pilkington), and Dan Hawley (recommended by Robb Pilkington). Peer reviewers were asked to comment on the technical content of the document.