Measurement of benzene in the workplace and its evolution process, part I:Overview, history, and past methods

Benzene and its measurement continues to be important in the field of indus trial hygiene. This two-part article reviews the history of occupational an d environmental sampling and analysis of benzene from the early 1900s to th e present. Part I provides an overview and details of the methods used in t he past; history of the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygi enists' threshold limit values for benzene; and reviews portable, grab, and integrated sampling methods as well as the various analytical methods. It is important to review and understand the past in order to predict future t rends.