The Fifth International Symposium on Modern Principles of Air Monitoring (AIRMON 2005)

This issue features selected papers presented at AIRMON 2005, held in Loen, Norway, 12th–16th June, 2005. The four previous AIRMON meetings have been held: at Geilo, Norway (1993 and 1999), in Sälen, Sweden (1996) and Lillehammer, Norway (2002). In contrast to previous meetings, 12 free short courses (two hours’ duration) were offered to all participants during the symposium. This new concept was instituted to stimulate participants to learn more about theoretical and practical issues, as well as to obtain specialists’ recommendations. Biomonitoring, when relevant in connection with air exposure and measurements, was also addressed at AIRMON 2005.

The aim of AIRMON 2005 was to facilitate interdisciplinary and intersector discussions about recent advances in exposure monitoring within the preventive framework of identifying and controlling health hazards within the workplace and in the environment. For the characterisation of exposure to chemical and biological agents, sensitive, selective and user-friendly methods and relevant sampling strategies are needed. In recent years there has been continuous development in the area of air and biological monitoring, and it is essential to promote the knowledge of newly developed methods and strategies for workplace, indoor and ambient exposure monitoring. The scientific programme consisted of seven plenary and two parallel sessions, with 60 oral presentations, 37 posters and 12 short course contributions. The 150 registered participants represented 19 countries and four continents.

The social side of all conferences helps to gel existing working relationships and establish new ones, therefore AIRMON included three social events with excursions to Geiranger Fjord and Høgeniba (1013 m above sea level) and the outdoor farewell party at the Briksdal Glacier where the participants were ‘exposed’ to the overwhelming beauty of the glacier and fjord district of Norway.

The last day of the conference was focused on peak exposure strategies and measurements, this subject was chosen to help build a bridge between AIRMON and the Nordic Institute for Advanced Training in Occupational Health (NIVA, Helsinki, Finland) which ran a course subsequent to the conference (16th–19th June) on ‘Peak Exposures and Human Health’.

Our institutional sponsors deserve our gratitude for their sponsorship of AIRMON 2005 and they are: the National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH), Norway, the National Institute for Working Life (NIWL), Sweden and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), USA.

The next AIRMON symposium will be held at the Dr Holms Hotel, Geilo, Norway, 27th January–1st February 2008.

Yngvar Thomassen

NIOH, Norway

 

Jan-Olof Levin

NIWL, Sweden

 

Martin Harper

NIOSH, USA

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