The effect of extreme humidity and temperature on gas detector tube performance

Abstract

Five replicate samples of each of two brands of detector tubes were tested at two concentrations (at the current OSHA standard and at 2 times the standard) under four different environmental conditions of temperature and humidity for carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, nitric oxide, hydrogen sulfide and formaldehyde. Each tube was read by three different observers. An analysis of variance was used to statistically determine the magnitude of biases due to humidity and temperature. Both humidity and temperature caused increases in the coefficient of variation of certain tubes from different manufacturers.