VOC Testing to Monitor Employee Exposure

VOC testing and monitoring help you control VOC exposures in your workplace. Keep staff safe and ensure that your business remains COSHH compliant.

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Exposure to VOCs

Exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) occurs in a wide variety of industrial, medical, and office settings.

VOCs are used in solvents, fixing agents, air fresheners, paints and glues. As a result, exposure can occur in most settings.

Synergy’s Occupational Hygiene Consultants use the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) from the product manufacturers to see which volatile organic compounds are used during a task.

We can also conduct VOC testing to monitor employee exposure to provide a list of the most prevalent compounds. This is useful if there is a mixture of solvents, or when the source of VOCs is unknown. They are generally known as ‘top 10’ or ‘top 5’ VOC analysis. They find unknown compounds and help to identify the health effects of the volatile organic compound mixture. Identifying unknown compounds through VOC testing and monitoring allows us to advise on the control measures an employer should use.

Health Effects of Volatile Organic Compounds

Although some VOCs have specific health risks, most produce similar short-term effects. These include irritation of the eyes, throat and lungs, dizziness, drowsiness and headaches. At the same time, long-term effects include loss of coordination and damage to the liver and kidneys. Due to the ways that they can work together (synergistic effect), small amounts of many volatile organic compounds working together can produce a more substantial impact on the worker. Protection of your workforce is vital and regular VOC testing to monitor exposure is advised.

VOC Test & Monitor for Measurement

VOC Test to Measure VOC Range

Synergy uses two types of VOC tests to measure the VOC range.

Synergy conducts monitoring for volatile organic compounds using sorbent tubes attached to pumps. These are useful VOC tests to measure the exposures of operatives who work in a stationary manner or for sampling background concentrations. The other VOC test we use is a small badge that requires no pump. These badges rely on the movements of the operative to determine the VOC range.

Our VOC exposure monitoring follows HSE documents MDHS 88 ‘Volatile Organic Compounds in Air’ (passive) or MDHS 96 ‘Volatile Organic Compounds in Air’ (pumped), depending on the type of sampling.

Controlling Volatile organic compounds

Controlling Volatile Organic Compounds

The HSE expects employers to use local exhaust ventilation (LEV) systems to control the release of vapours when handling solvent-containing substances. Companies should test and maintain these systems in line with HSE guidance HSG258 ‘Controlling airborne contaminants at work’. Synergy offers these testing services and recommends combining VOC workplace air monitoring with LEV testing whenever possible.