A study of the dispersion of solvent vapour in the workspace during wipe cleaning of metal components with organic solvents - A Monte Carlo uncertainty analysis

A Monte Carlo simulation using a diffusion based exposure assessment model was employed to aid forecasting of solvent vapour concentrations in the workspace during wipe cleaning of metal components. Range values for the important variables were chosen so as to be appropriated for wipe cleaning with either highly volatile solvents such as Vertrel-MCA or HFE71DE or with less volatile solvents such as n-propylbromide (nPBr). Emphasis is put on confirming that the range values of variables and the distributions taken are applicable to the workplace environment so that the simulation values obtained are reasonable estimates of the true vapour concentrations. The results obtained using Monte Carlo forecasts are considered most useful when taken in conjunction with the relevant occupational exposure limits for the solvents in question.