NaDos: A real-time, wearable, personal exposure monitor for hazardous organic vapors

We have demonstrated an intrinsically safe, near-real-time, personal exposure monitor (PEM) for measuring naphthalene in the breathing zone of the wearer. The NaDos PEM is a fully integrated, battery powered, <1 kg PEM, small enough to be worn by personnel working in hazardous environments. The NaDos PEM was originally developed with high detection specificity for naphthalene vapor because of the wide range of health hazards association with naphthalene inhalation, but it can also measure a wide range of HOVs including benzene, toluene, xylene, naphthalene, anthracene, etc. with a real-time limit of detection less than 10 μg/m3. The performance of the instrument has been demonstrated across a range of naphthalene concentrations from 10 μg/m3 to over 100 mg/m3. Performance was found to meet or exceed NIOSH recommended acceptance criteria of ± 25% of the true concentration, >95% of time. To deliver this accuracy in a real-world environment, the monitor accurately removes the effects of both humidity (0-95% RH) and temperature (0 °C to >45 °C). A major feature is its real-time nature, giving highly specific, high sensitivity, real time data which is a superior predictor of human health outcomes.