Capabilities
Air Sampling & Analysis
Understanding and improving air quality is an essential mission for communities and industries alike because it provides us with the knowledge and tools needed to safeguard our health, reduce pollution, and create a cleaner, more sustainable future for all.
RJ Lee Group provides practical solutions for indoor and outdoor air quality sampling, monitoring, and emissions analysis to keep people and the environment safe and healthy, and organizations compliant and free from legal headaches. We help commercial clients monitor volatile organic compounds (VOCs), we test for potentially harmful VOC releases as a result of accidents or natural disasters, and we help companies expand their capabilities and understanding of air quality testing.
Air Sampling Applications
Air sampling is used in many industrial and commercial sectors, and the technology used to execute a comprehensive air sampling and analysis plan with RJ Lee Group has several applications, including:
- Vapor Intrusion Studies
- Indoor Air Quality Testing
- Quality Control Evaluations
- Environmental Test Chamber Testing
- Headspace Sampling
- Industrial Emissions Evaluations
- Analyzing for the presence of asbestos, dust, metals, crystalline silica, PCBs, PNAs, and dioxins
Vapor intrusion when the deal cannot wait
Real estate purchase agreements typically allow thirty days for due diligence. A conventional vapor intrusion assessment does not fit inside that window. A mobile laboratory removes the distance between the sample and the instrument: sub-slab soil gas and indoor air are analyzed on site, in real time.
Data is available in a couple of hours, and conclusions can typically be made in one to five days depending on meteorological conditions. Mobilization of a lab from our headquarters takes about two weeks.
Odor and source attribution
Odor events are transient, and the investigation process is not. By the time an inspector arrives, the wind has shifted and the evidence has left. A mobile platform taking real-time measurements can characterize the chemical composition of a plume at the complaint location, then characterize the plumes coming from each candidate source, and compare them.
Every process produces a characteristic mixture: not a single compound, but a pattern across many compounds at particular relative concentrations. RJ Lee Group performs odor allocation using multivariate statistical analysis, specifically principal component analysis, in the Sartorius SIMCA package. The analysis compares the whole pattern of a complaint-location sample against the patterns of each candidate source.
The result is a statistical match, not an assertion.
Ethylene oxide measurement
EPA's March 2026 amendments to the Polyether Polyols Production (PEPO) air toxics rule introduce ethylene oxide-specific requirements. EPA did not finalize the proposed fenceline monitoring requirement, but voluntary monitoring can help facilities understand where emissions originate and how they change during operations.
Selective real-time ethylene oxide measurement requires specialized ion chemistry and interference checks, especially where acetaldehyde is present. RJ Lee Group can help define and validate the appropriate measurement approach. These investigations complement required compliance testing; regulatory demonstrations must follow applicable methods and approvals.
Beryllium Testing
Accurate testing and analysis of Beryllium heavy metals from sources ranging from natural rock erosion to coal mining is a vital part of maintaining environmental health and safety for your organization. RJ Lee Group provides accurate reporting that details the origins of any trace beryllium and our consulting experts can help address and resolve issues.
RJ Lee Group’s testing methods comply with EPA, NIOSH, and OSHA standards.
PTR-MS Air Sampling
Proton Transfer Mass Spectrometry (PTR-MS) measures low concentrations of VOCs in real-time, making it ideal for monitoring air quality and detecting contamination. RJ Lee Group uses PTR-MS to measure the presence of environmental hazards like secondhand smoke, anesthetic gases in hospitals, and trace amounts of contamination in industries that require a sterile workplace.
Our PTR-MS technology offers many advantages over traditional methods:
- No sample preparation
- Near Real-Time Analysis (Response time <100 ms)
- Instant measurement of contamination
- Changes in the air can be captured daily
- Very low limit of detection (LoD ~ 5 ppt) of VOCs
- Allows monitoring of any indoor/outdoor air in any environment
- Does not use carrier gases, which can dilute the sample
Mobile PTR-MS Vehicles
RJ Lee Group’s mobile PTR-MS laboratory provides rapid response and ongoing monitoring for outdoor locations to perform air sampling on-site for chemical producers, power plants, petroleum refineries, and other industrial businesses.
Our mobile PTR-MS laboratories can also record day-to-day emissions from motor vehicles in areas of concern or be deployed to provide real-time monitoring of air quality after a natural or industrial disaster to aid in remediation efforts.
When used in a remote operation, the PTR-MS can monitor:
- Long-range effects of VOCs, providing chemical concentration maps in real-time
- Waste incineration and biomass monitoring, such as brushfires and forest fires
- Agricultural applications, such as the impact of reactive trace gases above swamps, dairies, and feedlots, and the use of pesticides
- Airborne contaminant from an accident, spill, or unintentional discharge.
Mobile units dispatched from our Headquarters location in Pittsburgh, PA and our CBAL location in Pasco, WA.
expert spotlight
Keith Rickabaugh, CIH, MBA
Technical Director, Materials & Analytical Services
Keith possesses over 25 years of involvement using applied sciences and instrumental analysis methods to investigate matters that have or may have legal relevance. One of his core competencies is the ability to simplify complex issues and clearly communicate findings to target audiences as well as to the general population.