A study of the mass emission rates of small spills of chlorinated hydrocarbons based on the vapor pressure and surface area to volume ratio of the spill

Small spills of workplace chemicals are sometimes disregarded for their potential health effects posed to workers in the spill area. One tool occupational health professional use to determine the exposure of these small spills is mathematical modeling. Previous studies have shown that small spills of chlorinated hydrocarbons do not tend to follow the same predictive equation for the mass emission of the spill based on the parameters of vapor pressure and surface area to volume ratio of the spill compared with other organic and inorganic compounds. Using both vapor pressure and the surface area to volume ratio of the spill better predicted the emission rate constant for use in well-mixed room concentration models for the prospective or retrospective characterization of worker exposure, than did using vapor pressure alone. Also, the number chlorine substitutions on the chlorinated hydrocarbon is not a good predictor of the emission rate constant of the compound.