🌿 Number concentration of respirable asbestos fibres at workplaces — membrane filters, clearing and counting of fibres under a phase-contrast microscope, without identification of asbestos, PN-Z-04202-02 (withdrawn)

Environment PN-88/Z-04202/02

Overview

WHAT THE STANDARD COVERS. Scope from the PKN card, in full (our translation): "A method has been established for determining respirable fibres without identification of asbestos. Samples are collected on membrane filters and, after they have been cleared, examined under a phase-contrast microscope. The rules for counting fibres and examples of fibres in figures are given". The title speaks of the number concentration of respirable asbestos fibres at workplaces by optical microscopy. We did not have the text of the standard (4 pages): we do not know the counting rules, the field of view, the air volume or the type of filter.

STATUS (state of the cards on 29 September 2026). The card of PN-Z-04202-02:1988 (Polish version) has the header "Withdrawn": published 23-12-1988, "Withdrawal date: 15-08-2014", 4 pages, price group B, Health, Environment and Medicine Sector, KT 159 for Chemical and Dust Hazards in the Working Environment, ICS 13.040.30; the card has no "Replaced by" field — the standard was not replaced. The general sheet of the series, PN-Z-04202-01:1988 ("General provisions and scope of the standard"), was withdrawn on 29-11-2007. The PKN search for "PN-Z-04202" (29 September 2026) shows only these two sheets. Today there is no standard for this determination in the PN collection.

LIMIT VALUE — NEW WORDING. The NDS list as worded by the regulation of 26 March 2026 (Journal of Laws 2026, item 447, annex, item 32 "Asbestos (one or more of the types of asbestos listed below) – respirable fibres": actinolite, anthophyllite, chrysotile, amosite, crocidolite, tremolite) gives in the column "NDS (as the number of fibres per cm3)" the value "0.01 or 0.002". Footnote 11: respirable fibres are fibres longer than 5 µm, narrower than 3 µm and with a length-to-width ratio of at least 3:1. Footnote 12: one of these values applies, depending on the width of the fibres taken into account — for the NDS of 0.002 fibre/cm³ fibres 0.2 to 3 µm wide are counted, and for the NDS of 0.01 fibre/cm³ fibres narrower than 0.2 µm are also taken into account. § 2(6) of the amending regulation: until 20 December 2029 the NDS for asbestos is 0.01 fibre per cm³. The regulation implements Directive (EU) 2023/2668 amending Directive 2009/148/EC on asbestos (footnote 2). The card of the standard does not say which fibre widths the method described in it can see.

HOW MANY LABORATORIES AND IN WHAT FORM (copy of the accreditation-scope database, data loaded up to 17 September 2026, read on 29 September 2026). All notations of number 04202 with sheet 02: 20 entries at 11 laboratories. "PN-88/Z-04202/02" — AB 327, AB 343, AB 632, AB 719, AB 865 ("pkt 7") and AB 1169; "PN-Z-04202-02:1988" — AB 418, AB 934 and AB 1695; "PN-88/ Z-04202.02" — AB 435; "PN-88/ Z-04202/02" — AB 537. The "Laboratories" tab searches for notations BEGINNING WITH "PN-88/Z-04202/02" and will show 6 laboratories — checked with the tab query on the labcoda.pl production server on 29 September 2026: 6; under "PN-Z-04202-02" there are 3 (AB 418, AB 934, AB 1695), and AB 435 and AB 537 appear only under their own notations with a space. Current scopes on the PCA website (read on 29 September 2026, issues from 29.10.2025 to 10.08.2026): all entries stand in the valid issues, every pair of range numbers from the copy occurs in the current document and no entry is suspended.

MEASUREMENT OR SAMPLING — TWO DIFFERENT USES. Measurement by phase-contrast optical microscopy — 6 laboratories: AB 327 ((0.0012 – 2.1) fibres/cm³ and (882 – 720000) fibres per sample), AB 343 ((0.01 – 2.1) fibres/cm³), AB 435 ((0.007 – 4.042) fibres/cm³ and (6 – 550) fibres per 100 fields), AB 537 ((0.001 – 0.07) fibres/cm³), AB 632 ((0.00094 – 0.47) fibres/cm³ and (441 – 220500) fibres per sample; together with procedure PB-44 issue 3 of 10.04.2026) and AB 719 ((220.5 – 220 500) fibres per sample; besides workplaces also ambient and indoor air — with procedure PA-13 issue 9 of 01.12.2025). Sampling for exposure assessment and "exposure index (calculated)" together with PN-Z-04008-7:2002 — 5 laboratories: AB 418, AB 865 (only "pkt 7"), AB 934, AB 1169 and AB 1695. The same standard is also applied to other fibres: AB 343 — to man-made mineral fibres (except refractory ceramic fibres), AB 632 — to man-made mineral fibres and fibrous silicon carbide ((0.0025 – 2.0) fibres/cm³).

ALONGSIDE THIS STANDARD. Counting of asbestos fibres without this standard: AB 005 (procedure KD-2.2/ZLGIG/PB-2205-2 edition 3 of 25.08.2023, (0.5 – 200) fibres per 100 fields), AB 409 (NIOSH method 7400, Issue 3 — asbestos, refractory ceramic fibres and man-made mineral fibres) and AB 861 (procedure PA/10 of 01.08.2024 — phase-contrast and polarised-light microscopy, including identification of the fibre type). Man-made mineral fibres according to procedures: AB 327 (ZSA-PB-2 issue 5 of 15.01.2021), AB 537 (PB/HPL-03 issue 5 of 11.05.2026), AB 719 (PA-13). Sampling for exposure assessment with asbestos in the list of agents, according to PN-Z-04008-7 and without this standard in the entry, is in the scopes of 57 laboratories (entries "sampling" with the word "asbestos", subject: working environment). The rows of AB 005, AB 409 and AB 861 stand in the current PCA scopes without suspension (read on 29 September 2026).

WHERE A SEEMINGLY CORRECT RESULT IS EASY TO GET. According to the card the method counts respirable fibres WITHOUT identification of asbestos — a result for "asbestos fibres" includes every fibre meeting the dimensional criteria, including other mineral fibres present in the air. Second, a comparison with the NDS requires stating which fibre widths were counted: the list links the value 0.002 with fibres of 0.2–3 µm, and the value 0.01 — with fibres also narrower than 0.2 µm. Third, the lower end of the range: AB 343 starts its range at 0.01 fibre/cm³, i.e. at the value of the current NDS, and the other laboratories — from 0.00094 to 0.007 fibre/cm³.

WHAT WE DO NOT GIVE. We did not have the text of the standard — PKN makes it available for a fee (4 pages). We do not give the method of sampling and clearing the filters, the fibre counting rules, the counting criteria, formulas or precision; we also do not know what "pkt 7", cited separately by AB 865, refers to.

Method principle

According to the PKN card, an air sample from the workplace is collected on a membrane filter, the filter is cleared, and the respirable fibres are counted under an optical microscope with phase contrast, according to the counting rules given in the standard (with examples of fibres in figures); the method does not identify asbestos. The number concentration is given as the number of fibres per cm³ of air. We DO NOT GIVE the sampling conditions, the counting field or the calculations — we did not have the text of the standard.

Applications

• Measurements of exposure to respirable asbestos fibres at workplaces — 6 laboratories measure, 5 cite the standard for sampling
• Comparison with the NDS of 0.01 fibre/cm³ (until 20 December 2029) or 0.002 fibre/cm³ when fibres of 0.2–3 µm are counted (Journal of Laws 2026, item 447)
• At some laboratories also man-made mineral fibres and fibrous silicon carbide (AB 343, AB 632) and indoor air (AB 719)

Key parameters

Standard

Standard number

PN-Z-04202-02:1988 (wersja polska) — wycofana 15-08-2014 bez następcy

Title (PL)

Ochrona czystości powietrza — Badania zawartości azbestu — Oznaczanie stężenia liczbowego respirabilnych włókien azbestu na stanowiskach pracy metodą mikroskopii optycznej

Title (EN)

Air purity protection — Asbestos content testing — Determination of the number concentration of respirable asbestos fibres at workplaces by optical microscopy

Step-by-step procedure

1. Document status

   PN-Z-04202-02:1988 withdrawn on 15-08-2014 without a successor (PKN card, state on 29 September 2026); the laboratory applies it as a withdrawn document.

2. Sampling

   On a membrane filter; the sampling strategy in the laboratories' scopes is described by PN-Z-04008-7; we DO NOT GIVE the volume or the flow rate.

3. Preparing the specimen

   Clearing of the filter (PKN card); we DO NOT GIVE the method.

4. Counting fibres

   Under a phase-contrast microscope, according to the counting rules and figures of the standard — respirable fibres, without identification of asbestos.

5. Result

   Number concentration in fibres/cm³; when comparing with the NDS, state which fibre widths were counted (0.2–3 µm or also narrower).

Required equipment and apparatus

Health and safety (OHS)

• Asbestos is carcinogenic — sampling and handling of filters under conditions that limit secondary dust release; waste from samples treated as asbestos-containing waste
• SUBSTANTIVE NOTE: the method counts respirable fibres without identification of asbestos — other fibres in the air inflate the "asbestos" result

Frequently asked questions