This European Standard specifies methods for testing aerosol sampling instruments under prescribed laboratory conditions, and performance requirements that are specific to aerosol sampling instruments. These performance requirements, which include conformity with the EN 481 sampling conventions, apply only to the process of sampling the airborne particles from the air, not to the process of analysing particles collected by the process of sampling. Although analysis of samples collected in the course of testing is usually necessary in order to evaluate the sampler performance, the specified test methods ensure that analytical errors are kept very low during testing and do not contribute significantly to the end result. The determination of analytical errors and factors related to them (for example the bias, precision and limit of detection of the analytical method) is outside the scope of this standard. Where the aerosol sampling instrument requires the use of an external (rather than integral) pump, the pump is not subject to the requirements of this standard.
EN 482 contains general performance requirements for methods used for determining the concentrations of chemical agents in workplace atmospheres. These performance requirements include maximum values of overall uncertainty (a combination of precision and bias) achievable under prescribed laboratory conditions for the methods to be used. The requirements of EN 482 apply to the combined results of sampling airborne particles and analysing collected particles. This standard specifies how the performance of aerosol measurement methods is assessed with respect to the general requirements of EN 482, through the combination of sampling and analytical errors.