In order to provide asphalt fume condensates for bioassay that were representative of worker exposures, it was necessary to chemically match the fume condensates collected above the storage tanks with industrial hygiene samples collected around workers using the same asphalt source. Industrial hygiene (IH) exposure samples were collected at four separate paving and four separate roofing sites and were fully characterized chemically for each asphalt source used. The results of these characterizations were then used to guide the conditions used to collect large volume samples above the heated storage tanks. Acceptance criteria for the condensate samples were based on how well a variety of parameters matched the IH samples collected in the workplace, including simulated
distillation profile, fluorescence analysis, gas chromatography/ mass spectroscopy analysis for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and extracted ion fingerprinting. Results of mutagenicity testing in a modified Ames test using ASTM Standard Method
E 1687–04 (ASTM, 2004; Kriech et al., 2007) also informed the selection process.