Development of a Personal Sampler for Nanoparticles

说明(申请人提供)：由于纳米材料独特的物理化学特性和广泛的应用，纳米材料的产量不断增加。暴露在这些纳米颗粒中的潜在健康影响引起了极大的关注。由于纳米材料的尺寸小，比表面积大，许多研究表明，纳米材料的生物效应比相同化学组成的块体材料更大。2005年，NIOSH建议细二氧化钛的暴露限值为1.5毫克/立方米，超细二氧化钛的暴露限值为0.1毫克/立方米，作为时间加权平均浓度(TWA)，在40小时的工作周内，每天最多10小时。然而，目前还没有合适的个人采样器来评估超细或纳米颗粒的暴露水平。本研究的总体目标是开发一种个人采样器，能够采集职业环境中的超细颗粒(纳米颗粒)。该采样器由用于对可吸入颗粒进行分类的旋风分离器、用于实现纳米颗粒分类的带有加速喷嘴的聚碳酸酯径迹蚀刻(PCTE)膜过滤器以及用于收集纳米颗粒的备用过滤器组成。通过在喷嘴中施加高的局部过滤速度，可以避免分级PCTE过滤器中纳米颗粒的扩散沉积，并可以将纳米颗粒收集到下游的备用过滤器中。这项研究将导致开发一种独特的个人采样设备，能够对气溶胶气流中的纳米颗粒部分(D 100 Nm)进行分类，并收集这些部分用于重量分析、化学分析和其他分析。该装置可用于准确评估个人接触纳米颗粒的质量浓度和物理化学特征。 与公共健康相关：总体目标是开发一种个人采样器，能够在职业环境中收集气溶胶中的超细颗粒(纳米颗粒)部分。它可以用来评估个人接触纳米颗粒的质量浓度和物理化学特征。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Production of nanomaterials has increased continuously because of their unique physicochemical characteristics and extensive applications. There are great concerns for the potential health effects of exposure to these nanoparticles. Because of nanomaterials' small sizes and large surface areas, many studies have shown that the biological effects of nanomaterials are greater than bulk material of the same chemical composition. In 2005, the NIOSH recommended exposure limits of 1.5 mg/m3 for fine TiO2 and 0.1 mg/m3 for ultrafine TiO2, as time-weighted average concentrations (TWA) for up to 10 hr/day during a 40-hr work week. However, there are no suitable personal samplers capable of assessing the exposure level of ultrafine or nanoparticles. The overall objective of this study is to develop a personal sampler capable of collecting the ultrafine particles (nanoparticles) in the occupational environment. This sampler consists of a cyclone for respirable particle classification, a polycarbonate track-etched (PCTE) membrane filter with an acceleration nozzle to achieve nanoparticle classification, and a backup filter to collect nanoparticles. By applying high and localized filtration velocity in the nozzle, diffusion deposition of nanoparticles can be avoided in the classifying PCTE filter, and nanoparticles can be collected in the downstream backup filter. This research will lead to the development of a unique personal sampling device capable of classifying the nanoparticle fraction (d 100 nm) from the aerosol stream and collecting this fraction for gravimetric, chemical, and other analyses. This device can be used to accurately assess personal exposure to nanoparticles in terms of mass concentration and physicochemical characteristics. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The overall objective is to develop a personal sampler capable of collecting the ultrafine particle (nanoparticle) fraction of the aerosol in an occupation environment. It can be used to assess personal exposure to nanoparticles in terms of mass concentration and physicochemical characteristics.