A High-Flow Personal Sampler for Inhalable Aerosol

描述（由申请人提供）：虽然职业性呼吸系统疾病对我国劳动力造成严重伤害，但现有的许多呼吸系统危害暴露评估方法缺乏足够的检测灵敏度，使执业工业卫生学家无法确定危害是否存在。本研究的目的是设计一种高流量采样装置，以生理相关的方式评估工作场所的可吸入气溶胶危害。该装置将通过显著增加取样器流量来扩展整个方法的检测极限。该设计价格低廉，易于集成到常用的37毫米滤波器盒中。由于其成本低、准确、易于使用和适应性强，该设备将得到广泛应用，特别是在暴露评估资源和预算有限的发展中国家。这种广泛使用是这项技术的主要设计目标，因为更多地使用准确的接触评估技术最终将在国家和全球范围内加强对工人健康的保护。这个项目有三个具体目标。首先，设计一种价格低廉的模块化采样头，该采样头(a)与标准37毫米盒式接口，(b)在高气流速率下工作，10lpm, (c)符合美国政府工业卫生学家会议/国际标准组织设定的可吸入采样标准。这种高流量设计将从现有低流量可吸入装置的广泛研究中进行。其次，使用计算流体动力学建模来评估采样器的性能，并根据这些测试结果改进原型设计。第三，通过风洞实验室试验和实际职业环境的现场试验，对精细化设计进行验证。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): While occupational respiratory diseases inflict a severe toll on our national workforce, existing exposure assessment methods for many respiratory hazards lack sufficient detection sensitivity, preventing the practicing industrial hygienist from determining whether a hazard even exists. The goal of this research is to design a high flow sampling device engineered to assess inhalable aerosol hazards in the workplace in a physiologically relevant fashion. This device will extend overall method detection limits by considerably increasing sampler flowrate. The design will be inexpensive and readily-integrated into the commonly used 37-mm filter cassette. Because of its low cost, accuracy, ease-of-use, and adaptability, this device will have widespread application, especially in developing countries where exposure assessment resources and budgets are limited. Such widespread use was a major design goal for this technology, as increased use of an accurate exposure assessment technology will ultimately result in increased protection of worker health on a national and global scale. There are 3 specific aims for this project. First, to design an inexpensive, modular sampling head that (a) interfaces with a standard 37-mm cassette, (b) operates at a high rate of airflow, 10 Lpm, and (c) meets the criteria for inhalable sampling set by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists/International Standards Organization. This high-flow design will proceed from a wide body of research on existing low-flow inhalable devices. Second, to evaluate sampler performance using computational fluid dynamic modeling and to refine the prototype design based on results from these tests. Third, to validate the refined design through laboratory tests in a wind tunnel and field tests in actual occupational environments.