Abstract

Direct-reading dust monitors are valuable tools because of their ability to give instantaneous readings of dust concentrations. However, the need to calibrate the device with the dust in question complicates their use. During a previous study with Dust Track devices under laboratory conditions, IRSST researchers were able to establish display selection rules, making it possible to use correction coefficients for concentration readings that were just as effective for flour and quartz as for wood. This new study examined the application of these rules in an industrial context, in order to obtain an approximate (near 15%) measurement of aerosol concentration without prior calibration. The rules developed during the laboratory phase could not be transferred to the industrial milieu. Even once the display correction factors were applied, the results produced by the device varied by more than 15% from total actual concentrations.