A Portable Spectrometer for Inhalable Aerosol Size Distributions

描述（由申请人提供）：可吸入气溶胶危害是该国职业性呼吸道疾病负担的重要贡献者。它们几乎存在于所有诺拉部门：农业、林业和渔业中的有机粉尘;建筑业中的碳质和矿物粉尘;制造业中的金属和金属加工液气溶胶;采矿业中的煤尘只是其中几个例子。然而，我们目前缺乏技术来确定工作场所可吸入气溶胶危害的尺寸分布。如果没有这些信息，我们将风险与暴露于可吸入气溶胶联系起来的能力将受到严重阻碍。因此，本研究的目的是开发新的，廉价的技术来表征工作场所可吸入气溶胶危害的尺寸分布。这种采样器将使职业健康专业人员能够更全面地评估可吸入气溶胶的危害，因为目前还没有商业上可用的技术来满足这一需求。本计画有三个具体目标：（1）设计一种便宜的上流式净化器，以表征工作场所可吸入气溶胶危害物的粒径分布（2）结合静风室研究和低速风洞实验评估装置性能;（3）通过描述乳制品和谷物处理设施中有机粉尘危害的可吸入颗粒尺寸分布，测试现场采样器性能。我们将量化可吸入的有机粉尘粒径分布作为质量和内毒素含量的函数。后一种测量方法以前从未被报道为大于10 - 5 μ m的颗粒的粒径函数。这项研究有助于诺拉的目标，通过开发能够产生新的和重要的知识，该领域的接触评估技术。虽然存在用于测量颗粒物总浓度的可吸入气溶胶采样器，但是我们目前没有用于确定可吸入颗粒物尺寸分布的手段。由于尺寸（与化学成分一起）在确定健康影响方面起着主要作用，因此工业卫生学家、职业医生和流行病学家都对尺寸分辨化学成分的知识非常感兴趣。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Inhalable aerosols hazards are a significant contributor to the burden of occupational respiratory disease in this country. They are present in virtually every NORA sector: organic dusts in agriculture, forestry, and fishing; carbonaceous and mineral dusts in construction; metal and metalworking fluid aerosols in manufacturing; and coal dust in mining are but a few examples. However, we currently lack the technology to determine the size distribution of inhalable aerosol hazards in the workplace. Without this information, our ability to associate risk with exposure to inhalable aerosols is severely hampered. Therefore, the objective of this research is to develop new, inexpensive technology to characterize the size distribution of inhalable aerosol hazards in the workplace. Such a sampler will enable occupational health professionals to assess inhalable aerosol hazards more fully, as no commercially-available technologies currently exist to meet this need. The project has three specific aims: (1) Design an inexpensive, upflow clarifier to characterize the size distribution of inhalable aerosol hazards in the workplace (ranging from 10 to 100 5m); (2) Evaluate device performance using a combination of calm-air chamber studies and low-velocity wind tunnel experiments; (3) Test sampler performance in the field by characterizing inhalable particle size distributions for organic dust hazards in dairy and grain handling facilities. We will quantify inhalable organic dust size distributions as a function of mass and endotoxin content. The latter measure has never before been reported as a function of particle size for particles larger than 10 5m. This research contributes to the aims of the NORA by developing an exposure assessment technique capable of generating new and important knowledge for the field. Although inhalable aerosol samplers exist for measuring the total concentration of particles, we currently have no means for determining inhalable particle size distributions. Because size (in conjunction with chemical composition) plays a primary role in determining health effects, knowledge of the size-resolved chemical composition is of great interest to industrial hygienists, occupational physicians, and epidemiologists alike.