Recent advancements in testing devices and methodology are shaping the future of fume hood performance evaluation

Over the past decades, fume hood performance testing has been widely practiced by indoor environmentalists and industrial hygienists as an indispensable tool to identify potential failures of containment. The improvement opportunities of the traditional testing practice, however, are not well translated to and recognized by the occupational health and indoor air quality community, partly due to the lack of a comprehensive review and analysis of pertinent advancements in fume hood containment performance evaluation. This motivated a systematic attempt to review recent advancements in testing devices and methodology that support fume hood containment performance evaluation in a more sustainable and optimized way. In this context, emerging technologies and innovative practices in three categories—namely, face velocity measurement, airflow visualization analysis, and tracer gas containment test—are elaborated in terms of testing devices and methodology. With those advancements, an improved process of fume hood performance evaluation is proposed. Furthermore, challenges in adopting emerging technologies and innovative practices are highlighted and discussed. The findings and recommendations in this study serve as a valuable reference for revising current fume hood performance evaluation standards, further guiding chemical exposure risk assessment, and informing ventilation control strategy.