A passive sampler for airborne coarse particles

NATO Science for Peace and Security Series C: Environmental Security

Health risks associated with the inhalation of airborne particles are known to be influenced by particle size. Studies have shown that certain nanoparticles, with diameters <100 nm, have increased toxicity relative to larger particles of the same substance. A reliable, size-resolving sampler able to collect a wide range of particle sizes, including particles with sizes in the nanometre range, would be beneficial in investigating health risks associated with the inhalation of airborne particles. A review of current aerosol samplers used for size-resolved collection of airborne particles highlighted a number of limitations. These could be overcome by combining an inertial deposition impactor with a diffusion collector in a single device. Verified theories of diffusion and inertial deposition suggested an optimal design and operational regime. The instrument was designed for analysing mass distribution functions. Calibration was carried out using a number of recognized techniques. The sampler was tested in the field by collecting sizeresolved samples of lead containing aerosols present at workplaces in factories producing crystal glass. The mass deposited on each screen proved sufficient to be detected and measured by an appropriate analytical technique. Mass concentration distribution functions of lead were produced. The nanofraction of lead in air varied from 10 to 70% by weight of total lead.

Annals of Occupational Hygiene, 2010

Assessment of inhalable dust exposure requires reliable sampling methods in order to measure airborne inhalable particles' concentrations. Many inhalable aerosol samplers can be used but their performances widely vary and remain unknown in some cases. The sampling performance of inhalable samplers is strongly dependent on particle size and ambient air velocity. Five inhalable aerosol samplers have been studied in two laboratory wind tunnels using polydisperse glass-beads' test aerosol. Samplers tested were IOM sampler (UK), two versions of CIP 10-I sampler, v1 and v2 (F), 37-mm closed face cassette sampler (USA), 37-mm cassette fitted up with an ACCU-CAPä insert (USA), and Button sampler (USA). Particle size-dependent sampling efficiencies were measured in a horizontal wind tunnel under a 1 m s 21 wind velocity and in a vertical tunnel under calm air, using a specific method with CoulterÒ counter particle size number distribution determinations. Compared with CEN-ISO-ACGIH sampling criteria for inhalable dust, the experimental results show fairly high sampling efficiency for the IOM and CIP 10-I v2 samplers and slightly lower efficiencies for the Button and CIP 10-I v1 samplers. The closed face cassette (4-mm orifice) produced the poorest performances of all the tested samplers. This can be improved by using the ACCU-CAPä internal capsule, which prevents inner wall losses inside the cassette. Significant differences between moving air and calm air sampling efficiency were observed for all the studied samplers.

Annals of Occupational Hygiene, 2004

While personal aerosol samplers have been characterized primarily based on wind tunnel tests conducted at relatively high wind speeds, modern indoor occupational environments are usually represented by very slow moving air. Recent surveys suggest that elevated levels of occupational exposure to inhalable airborne particles are typically observed when the worker, operating in the vicinity of the dust source, faces the source. Thus, the first objective of this study was to design and test a new, low cost experimental protocol for measuring the sampling efficiency of personal inhalable aerosol samplers in the vicinity of the aerosol source when the samplers operate in very slowly moving air. In this system, an aerosol generator, which is located in the centre of a room-sized non-ventilated chamber, continuously rotates and omnidirectionally disperses test particles of a specific size. The test and reference samplers are equally distributed around the source at the same distance from the centre and operate in parallel (in most of our experiments, the total number of simultaneously operating samplers was 15). Radial aerosol transport is driven by turbulent diffusion and some natural convection. For each specific particle size and the sampler, the aerosol mass concentration is measured by weighing the collection filter. The second objective was to utilize the new protocol to evaluate three widely used aerosol samplers: the IOM Personal Inhalable Sampler, the Button Personal Inhalable Aerosol Sampler and the 25 mm Millipore filter holder (closed-face C25 cassette). The sampling efficiencies of each instrument were measured with six particle fractions, ranging from 6.9 to 76.9 µm in their mass median aerodynamic diameter. The Button Sampler efficiency data demonstrated a good agreement with the standard inhalable convention and especially with the low air movement inhalabilty curve. The 25 mm filter holder was found to considerably under-sample the particles larger than 10 µm; its efficiency did not exceed 7% for particles of 40-100 µm. The IOM Sampler facing the source was found to over-sample compared with the data obtained previously with a slowly rotating, freely suspended sampler in a low air movement environment. It was also found that the particle wall deposition in the IOM metallic cartridge was rather significant and particle size-dependent. For each sampler (IOM, Button and C25) the precision was characterized through the relative standard deviation (RSD) of the aerosol concentration obtained with identical samplers in a specific experiment. The average RSD was 14% for the IOM Sampler, 11% for the Button Sampler and 35% for the 25 mm filter cassette. A separate set of experiments, performed with the Simplified Torso showed that in very slowly moving air a personal sampler can be adequately evaluated even when it is not attached to a body but freely suspended (confirming the data reported previously).

Annals of Work Exposures and Health

Measurement of worker exposure to a thoracic health-related aerosol fraction is necessary in a number of occupational situations. This is the case of workplaces with atmospheres polluted by fibrous particles, such as cotton dust or asbestos, and by particles inducing irritation or bronchoconstriction such as acid mists or flour dust. Three personal and two static thoracic aerosol samplers were tested under laboratory conditions. Sampling efficiency with respect to particle aerodynamic diameter was measured in a horizontal low wind tunnel and in a vertical calm air chamber. Sampling performance was evaluated against conventional thoracic penetration. Three of the tested samplers performed well, when sampling the thoracic aerosol at nominal flow rate and two others performed well at optimized flow rate. The limit of flow rate optimization was found when using cyclone samplers.

Atmospheric Environment, 2003

No personal aerosol sampler has been evaluated for monitoring aeroallergens in outdoor field conditions and compared to conventional stationary aerobiological samplers. Recently developed Button Personal Inhalable Aerosol Sampler has demonstrated high sampling efficiency for non-biological particles and low sensitivity to the wind direction and velocity. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the Button Sampler for the measurement of outdoor pollen grains and fungal spores side-by-side with the widely used Rotorod Sampler. The sampling was performed for 8 months (spring, summer and fall) at a monitoring station on the roof of a two-storied office building located in the center of the city of Cincinnati. Two identical Button Samplers, one oriented towards the most prevalent wind and the other towards the opposite wind and a Rotorod Sampler were placed side-by-side. The total fungal spore concentration ranged from 129 to 12,980 spores m À3 (number per cubic meter of air) and the total pollen concentration from 4 to 4536 pollen m À3 . The fungal spore concentrations obtained with the two Button Samplers correlated well (r ¼ 0:95; po0:0001). The pollen data also showed positive correlation. These findings strongly support the results of earlier studies conducted with non-biological aerosol particles, which demonstrated a low wind dependence of the performance of the Button Sampler compared to other samplers. The Button Sampler's inlet efficiency was found to be more dependent on wind direction when sampling larger sized Pinaceae pollen grains (aerodynamic diameter E65 mm). Compared to Rotorod, both Button Samplers measured significantly higher total fungal spore concentrations. For total pollen count, the Button Sampler facing the prevalent wind showed concentrations levels comparable to that of the Rotorod, but the Button Sampler oriented opposite to the prevalent wind demonstrated lower concentration levels. Overall, it was concluded that the Button Sampler is efficient for the personal sampling of outdoor aeroallergens, and is especially beneficial for aeroallergens of small particle size. r

Aerosol and Air Quality Research, 2018

Electrostatic sampling is a promising method for the collection of bioaerosol particles. Although the underlying physics responsible for particle collection are well understood, the collection efficiency of simple passive electrostatic samplers is difficult to predict. Under these conditions, the collection efficiency becomes very sensitive to ambient air current and particle size, especially for submicron particles relevant for airborne virus transmission. In this paper, we compare two electrostatic aerosol sampler designs, a commercial product consisting of a flat collector plate located in the same plane as the charging needles and an axisymmetric design sampling directly to a liquid droplet. The aerosol particle collection efficiency of the samplers is investigated for particle size ranging from 0.25 to 2 µm while the air flow velocity surrounding the samplers is varied from 0.3 to 1 m s-1. For the planar design, at all ambient flow velocities, the submicron fraction of the particles captured originates in streamlines up to a maximum of 75 mm above the surface of the device collector, which greatly limits the volume of air being effectively sampled. The axisymmetric design features a nonmonotonic capture efficiency as a function of particle size, with a minimum between 0.4 and 0.8 µm. The flow field in the inter-electrode region, captured using particle image velocimetry (PIV) reveals the presence of strong recirculation zones that can be responsible for the increased collection efficiency for very small particles.

Environmental Pollution, 1995

This paper describes an instrument developed for the semi-continuous measurement of aerosol mass and its classtj?cation into three classes. These classes have been chosen to evaluate the health hazards caused by inhalable particles. The instrument takes samples through three probes, each providing dtjerent cut-of points (-15 pm, -4 pm, -2 pm) and collects airborne particles on circular membrane filters. The increase in weight is measured by the beta-ray attenuation method.

International Journal of Nanoparticles, 2008

The accurate measurement of ultrafine and submicron sized airborne particles is a challenging task. Since several studies have linked exposures to airborne ultrafine particles to elevated human health risks, the need to assess the concentrations of particles in the workplace that are below one micron in diameter is imperative. Several techniques for directly monitoring micro and nanoparticles are available and others are being tested for their merit. Condensation Nuclei Counters (CNCs), portable condensation particle counters, differential mobility analysers, electron microscopy and other novel approaches to measuring micro and nanoparticles have been employed in investigations. The purpose of this paper is to elucidate the results from three studies involving the measurement of airborne particles with a laser particle counter and condensation nuclei counter. The three environments include: a gambling casino, a Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW) operation and a general manufacturing facility with welding, cutting and grinding operations being performed.

Journal of the Air Pollution Control Association, 1976

Atmospheric Environment, 2009

The present study was carried out with the aim of evaluating the performance of six different aerosol samplers in terms of mass concentration, particle size distribution, and mass fraction for the international size-sampling conventions. The international sizesampling criteria were defined as inhalable, thoracic, and respirable mass fractions with 50% cutoff at an aerodynamic equivalent diameter of 100 mm, 10 mm, and 4 mm, respectively. Two Andersen, four total suspended particulate (TSP), two RespiCon, four PM 10 , two DustTrak, and two SidePak samplers were selected and tested to quantitatively estimate human exposure in a carefully controlled particulate matter (PM) test chamber. The overall results indicate that (1) Andersen samplers underestimate total suspended PM and overestimate thoracic and respirable PM due to particle bounce and carryover between stages, (2) TSP samplers provide total suspended PM as reference samplers, (3) TSP samplers quantified by a coulter counter multisizer provide no information below an equivalent spherical diameter of 2 mm and therefore underestimate respirable PM, (4) RespiCon samplers are free from particle bounce as inhalable samplers but underestimate total suspended PM, (5) PM 10 samplers overestimate thoracic PM, and (6) DustTrak and SidePak samplers provide relative PM concentrations instead of absolute PM concentrations.