Aerosols from Semi-Volatile Organic Compounds (SVOCs) origin represent a big challenge for industrial hygienists due to toxicological and sampling issues. This thesis deals with the experimental and theoretical characterisation of such aerosols and with the artefacts that occur during occupational sampling. The workplace samplers that are most commonly used in Germany are characterised for several SVOC aerosols under various conditions.
Measurements have shown that SVOC droplets can evaporate completely within 3 seconds or remain unchanged, depending on substance volatility, vapour saturation, particle diameter and sampling temperature. The workplace samplers lost up to 100 % of the particle mass at low aerosol concentrations. At room temperature, aerosol droplets from compounds with boiling points below 250 °C will generally have short lifetimes and will evaporate during filtration.