Asbestos Fiber Counting [NIOSH 582] (1616), May 12–16, 2025 In-Person

COURSE OUTLINE & SYLLABUS
Course schedule: 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Monday – Thursday, and 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Friday.
This is the NIOSH 582 course: “Sampling and Evaluating Airborne Asbestos Dust.”
The NIOSH 7400 method using phase contrast microscopy (PCM) is detailed, including QA/QC procedures, statistics, and sampling-related mathematics.
At the conclusion of the course, students are able to properly calibrate and use the sampling equipment, align and calibrate the microscope and apply the NIOSH 7400 protocols, prepare samples for analysis, and apply the procedures for collection and quantitation of ambient dust samples.
Practical field-related problems are discussed.
4.5 CM Credits
Prerequisites: NIOSH 582 Prospective for Students (PDF)
Day 1
  • Setting up the microscope
  • Illumination
  • Phase contrast microscopy
  • Micrometry
  • Graticules
  • Asbestos types
  • Particle morphology
  • Introduction to statistics
Day 2
  • Statistics, sampling, and airflow calibration equipment
  • Asbestos sampling procedures
  • Universal gas laws
  • Sampling related mathematics
  • NIOSH 7400 counting procedures: “A” counting rules and “B” counting rules
  • Pretest
Day 3
  • Slide counting
  • P & Cam 239 vs. NIOSH 7400
  • Slide counting and filter mounting
  • Statistics review
  • Pretest review
Day 4
  • Round-robin counting
  • Compliance testing
  • Sampling strategies
  • Pretest review
  • Practical field problems
  • Special methods
  • Introduction to asbestos bulk analysis
Day 5
  • Review
  • Final exam