Table 3.
airborne concentration of the most important VOCs present in the mixture for the roller- and spray-painting activities. The ratio between the airborne concentration and the relative Occupational Exposure Limit (OEL) is also reported. The result of the t-test used for comparison between roller and spray painters is also shown.
| toluene | ethylbenzene | p-xylene | m-xylene | o-xylene | xylenes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mg/m3 | ||||||
| roller | ||||||
| mean | 0.54 | 3.60 | 3.62 | 9.07 | 2.52 | 15.21 |
| OEL ratio | 0.00 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.04 | 0.01 | 0.06 |
| median | 0.17 | 1.00 | 0.69 | 2.14 | 0.41 | 3.17 |
| SD | 0.76 | 5.58 | 6.72 | 15.89 | 5.68 | 28.23 |
| 5th | 0.02 | 0.10 | 0.08 | 0.23 | 0.07 | 0.43 |
| 25th | 0.05 | 0.34 | 0.30 | 0.75 | 0.19 | 1.27 |
| 75th | 0.68 | 4.79 | 3.46 | 9.45 | 1.16 | 14.07 |
| 95th | 1.81 | 12.44 | 14.24 | 34.39 | 11.21 | 59.84 |
| max | 2.05 | 16.49 | 19.84 | 47.07 | 16.54 | 83.44 |
| min | 0.02 | 0.04 | 0.04 | 0.10 | 0.03 | 0.17 |
| spray | ||||||
| mean | 78.81 | 25.25 | 26.22 | 64.92 | 22.82 | 113.96 |
| OEL ratio | 0.41 | 0.06 | 0.12 | 0.29 | 0.10 | 0.52 |
| median | 0.82 | 23.45 | 24.24 | 59.12 | 19.96 | 109.36 |
| SD | 121.51 | 17.15 | 21.35 | 48.37 | 19.95 | 88.43 |
| 5th | 0.13 | 6.41 | 4.77 | 13.21 | 4.25 | 22.23 |
| 25th | 0.23 | 13.67 | 9.01 | 29.83 | 5.51 | 44.37 |
| 75th | 169.00 | 37.59 | 43.19 | 103.57 | 39.48 | 184.18 |
| 95th | 240.73 | 45.67 | 50.11 | 121.02 | 45.17 | 210.61 |
| max | 246.02 | 47.83 | 51.99 | 124.98 | 46.50 | 218.15 |
| min | 0.1 | 4.04 | 3.38 | 7.83 | 3.83 | 15.04 |
|
t -test p value |
0.044 | 0.003 | 0.007 | 0.005 | 0.009 | 0.006 |