The performance of the disposable inhalable aerosol sampler (DIAS), newly developed to be cost-effective and comparable to the inhalable particle sampling convention, was evaluated. Forty-eight sets of copper exposure measurements (23 personal and 25 area) with pairs of the DIAS prototypes and the IOM inhalable samplers were collected at an electrorefinery facility. For the combined data (personal and area), the geometric mean (GM) concentrations of copper were 36.1 μg m−3 (range of 0.8 – 337.7 μg m−3) for the DIAS prototype and 26.5 μg m−3 (range of 5.1 – 760.8 μg m−3) for the IOM sampler. The GM ratio of exposure measurements (DIAS/IOM) was 1.4 revealing ~ 81% of the ratios greater than the unit ratio. The concordance correlation coefficient tests revealed significant disagreement between the two types of samplers and suggested precision as the source of the disagreement. For the personal, area and combined data, no linear relationships were observed between the DIAS and IOM (all p-values < 0.05). In addition, the estimated average concentrations were always higher for the DIAS compared to the IOM for the combined and area exposure data (p-values < 0.05) and comparable for the personal exposure data (p-value = 0.487). Overall, regardless of the sampling method (i.e., personal and area), the DIAS generated higher exposure measurements compared to the IOM sampler. The present study is limited to one metal component (copper) of the dust at a worksite. As far as we are concerned, this is only the second field evaluation of the DIAS. Thus, it is too early to draw a firm conclusion about the performance of the DIAS vis-à-vis the inhalable convention. Additional field evaluations covering various chemicals and worksites will be necessary. In addition, particle losses on the cap during transportation of collected samples to a laboratory were observed for both sampler types. Occupational professionals should be aware of potential errors caused from transferring samples from a field to a laboratory and should be careful not to exclude particles collected on the caps.

Reliably sampling worker exposures to aerosolized particulates is an integral part of many industrial operations. The production of inhalable particulates in the presence of workers is a common issue and one that should be closely monitored by health and safety professionals. Regulatory agencies such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Mine Safety and Health Administration have specific standards that are legally enforceable pertaining to particulate aerosol exposure limits. Therefore, in many industrial operations, air sampling of workers is an essential part of maintaining regulatory compliance. Although many airborne particulates can pose significant health risks, the costs of air sampling are prohibitive to gathering data from every worker in many workplaces. In vii