Occupational environmental monitoring

Occupational environmental monitoring is intended to gather information on occupational exposures in the environment external to the worker through direct measurements. Intensity and duration of exposure can be measured. For chemicals the term concentration is also used to refer to the amount of the substance per unit of environmental medium (for example, micrograms of lead per cubic metre of air). Strategies for environmental monitoring are usually based on grouping procedures (that is, applying a sampling strategy intended to describe environmental exposures of a group of workers with similar tasks, using similar agents and/or working under similar conditions). Area measurements (such as through air samplers) or personal measurements (through personal dosimeters) can be conducted.