ABSTRACT
Understanding the objectives of air sampling and how different objectives relate to and dictate the critical details of specic sampling activities is essential to the design and implementation of any successful sampling program. Before decisions can be made about how to sample, an understanding must be reached about why the sample will be taken and under what conditions it will be taken. As noted in the ANSI/ASTM E 1370-96 (2008) Standard Guide for Air Sampling Strategies for Worker and Workplace Protection, sampling may be done for single or multiple purposes, and conicts arise when a single air sampling strategy is expected to satisfy multiple purposes. Similar views are expressed in the international standard ISO 16000-1 (2004) Indoor Air-Part 1: General Aspects of Sampling Strategy. The importance of beginning with clear objectives applies in any setting to all sampling programs to assess any type of airborne material, both radioactive and nonradioactive. In the following discussion of objectives, the term “sampling” is used in a general context to include collection of airborne material followed by off-line (e.g., laboratory) analysis, as well as collection of airborne material with real-time detection. The term “monitoring” is used in a more limited context to denote either collection with real-time detection or sequential sampling.
