{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.028801355357899194, 'fraction_numerical': 0.005929690808979246, 'mean_word_length': 6.179331306990881, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Workplace air quality: International consensus standards

Standardization is essential to fostering the use of harmonized methods for exposure assessment in occupational hygiene nationally and internationally. A standardized method for sampling and analysis provides data of known quality and reliability through the assurance of acceptable accuracy or uncertainty, which can then be compared to results collected at other times or in other places. Consensus standards can be used by regulatory agencies or advisory bodies to determine compliance with occupational exposure limit values. In addition, harmonized methods can be employed to generate high-quality databases of exposure results that can be used for other purposes such as epidemiological studies. Efforts have been made to promulgate consensus standards to maximize such benefits for professionals in the occupational hygiene field throughout the world. Consensus is reached through input from many stakeholders, occupational hygienists, industrial hygiene chemists, manufacturers, national authorities, and government representatives, along with many other professionals in private industry, academia, and nonprofit organizations. 
 
With regard to workplace air quality, there are three primary relevant consensus standards organizations: ASTM International (formerly the American Society for Testing and Materials) Subcommittee (SC) D22.04 on Workplace Air Quality (under Committee D22 on Air Quality); Comite Europeen de Normalisation (CEN; European Standards Organization), Technical Committee (TC) 137 on Assessment of Workplace Exposure to Chemical and Biological Agents; and International Organization for Standardization (ISO), SC 2 on Workplace Atmospheres (under TC 146 on Air Quality).[1] These consensus standards bodies, with respect to air quality, generally represent North America, Europe, and the world, respectively. Each organization produces its own standard methods, practices, guides, technical specifications (TS), and/or technical reports (TR), based on its needs. This commentary reports the most recent updates concerning each organization’s mission, structure, status of standards (published or under development), and other relevant information. It also introduces harmonized standards that have been promulgated among these voluntary consensus standards organizations.