Date: Tue, 21 Dec 2010 15:40:49 -0500
Reply-To: DCHAS-L Discussion List <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU>
Sender: DCHAS-L Discussion List <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU>
From: Don Abramowitz <dabramow**At_Symbol_Here**BRYNMAWR.EDU>
Subject: Re: Precipitate Sampling
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTimqbkPDK92kDvaAurvM_RdRHqLS_XxGNV=HAOAi**At_Symbol_Here**mail.gmail.com>
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>I would guess silver to be your primary contaminant of concern from the ph
oto lab, especially with a TLV of 0.01 mg/M3 for soluble salts. I'm n
ot sure exactly what goes on in a metal arts lab, but if it generated dust,
I imagine some of that ended up going down any floor drains and sinks with
routine cleaning. A TCLP for metals would be helpful for disposal de
terminations, but an ICP analysis for "total" metals may reveal more about
metals that may become airborne in the dust. (TCLP uses an mildly aci
dic solution to "leach" metals from the sample. It can miss less solu
ble forms. ICP should cost a bit less, since you skip the leaching st
ep, and give you a more representative picture of what's in the base materi
al.
There's a decent description of developer chemicals here, includ
ing some historical chemicals and their modern replacements:
http://en.wikipedi
a.org/wiki/Photographic_developer (I'm sure there are more credib
le references, but it's not a bad start.) There may be some sen
sitizers present here, but I don't know how long they would persist in the
tunnel environment, and I don't think it would be easy to get an analysis o
f all the possibilities. Controlling for exposure to the metals (skin
and respiratory protection) may also provide adequate protection fro
m the other possible contaminants.
Don
Donald Abramowitz, CIH
Environmental Health & Safety Officer
Bryn
Mawr College
Bryn Mawr, PA
Hey all,
I just r
an into an interesting situation. Some years ago, there was a plumbin
g leak in a pipe tunnel. The "grey" water in the lines that leaked ou
t originated in a photography teaching lab and a metal arts teaching lab. After the leak was fixed, the water was simply allowed to dry in the t
unnel and now there is a lot of dust left on the floor. There will be
a lot of work performed in the tunnels in the next month or two, and this
will certainly stir up the dust.
I know what processes are done there now, and I have a good idea of "re
cent" history (the past 10 years or so), but I'm not overly familiar with h
istorical photography lab practices and the photography manager is newer he
re than I am. Based on what I do know, I grabbed a sample of the mate
rial and will have it tested to see what might be in there and at what leve
ls so we can start planning a clean-up of the area. My question to th
e list is this: What would you sample for? It would be awesome
to have that mysterious machine from CSI that can analyze molecules in seco
nds in the field, all the way down to the brand of perfume and its retailer
s, but...... I'm thinking a TCLP for metals is in order, but is there
anything else that I should request of the lab doing the analysis? &
nbsp;
Thanks,
Wendy
--
Wendy Campbell, CSP
Occ
upational Health and Safety Officer
Environmental Health and Safety
Boise State University
1910 University Drive
Boise, Idaho 83725-1826<
br>
Office: (208) 426-3303
Fax: (208) 426-3343
