Accurately measuring oil workers’ exposures to potentially toxic materials has long been problematic. Continuous sampling, in particular, was impossible because the equipment necessary for 24-hour sampling was too bulky to be delivered to remote sites in a timely manner.1
Previous research found that the highest exposures are among the workers performing extraction activities. But those are not the only operations that present a risk. Workers can come into contact with hydrocarbon gases and vapors via engines that power equipment emitting diesel exhaust, manual tank monitoring, and sampling and fluid transfer activities. Exposure to silica dust is possible in numerous operations. This includes hydraulic fracturing, a process which requires transferring sand and mixing it with water before injecting the mixture deep underground to help extract gas from the rock formation.1