DefinePK

Abstract

Selecting the best sampling method for respirable crystalline silica (RCS) exposure always is a debate among industrial hygienist. The dispute is always focusing on the diversity between direct and indirect method which may contribute to uncertainty in final result. The objective of this research is to define applicability of direct and indirect method in determination of RCS exposure in Malaysia. Beside, this study aims to determine the best method in terms of performance characteristic. Parallel 8 H exposure sampling was performed among 30 workers at 6 granite quarries located in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Based on overall measurement uncertainty value, we determine that indirect method has better performance characteristic compared with direct method. However, inferential statistic by Spearman’s rank order correlation test indicate significant positive correlation (r (30)=0.427; p<0.05), and different test Wilcoxon sign rank test, showed no significant difference between bot set of data. These indicate that there is no significant difference on exposure data between both methods.