ASTM International

Standard Test Method for Airborne Asbestos Concentration in Ambient and Indoor Atmospheres as Determined by Transmission Electron Microscopy Direct Transfer (TEM)
 N D6281

Annotation

This test method2 is an analytical procedure using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) for the determination of the concentration of asbestos structures in ambient atmospheres and includes measurement of the dimension of structures and of the asbestos fibers found in the structures from which aspect ratios are calculated.

This test method allows determination of the type(s) of asbestos fibers present.

This test method cannot always discriminate between individual fibers of the asbestos and non-asbestos analogues of the same amphibole mineral.

This test method is suitable for determination of asbestos in both ambient (outdoor) and building atmospheres.

This test method is defined for polycarbonate capillary-pore filters or cellulose ester (either mixed esters of cellulose or cellulose nitrate) filters through which a known volume of air has been drawn and for blank filters.

The upper range of concentrations that can be determined by this test method is 7000 s/mm2. The air concentration represented by this value is a function of the volume of air sampled.

There is no lower limit to the dimensions of asbestos fibers that can be detected. In practice, microscopists vary in their ability to detect very small asbestos fibers. Therefore, a minimum length of 0.5 ?m has been defined as the shortest fiber to be incorporated in the reported results.

The direct analytical method cannot be used if the general particulate matter loading of the sample collection filter as analyzed exceeds approximately 10 % coverage of the collection filter by particulate matter.