Sunset Laboratory Inc. was founded in 1984 to provide OCEC analyses of glass, quartz and other environmental filter samples. The thermal-optical OCEC instrument used for this work was based upon instruments developed at the Oregon Graduate Institute of Science and Technology. This instrument became the basis for the NIOSH Method 5040. The journal article describing it was awarded the NIOSH Alice Hamilton Award in 1996. In 2000, Sunset Laboratory broke new ground with the introduction of a semi-continuous, real-time, in-situ carbon aerosol field instrument. The time-resolution capability and laser-based pyrolysis correction techniques of this instrument provide a dynamic addition to existing technology with refined information about particle origins, health exposures, and changes in air quality.