A direct-reading particle sizer with elemental composition analysis for large inhalable particles.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Anderson, Kern E. ; Limbach C ; L'Orange C ; Sipich J ; Volckens J ; Yalin A
• Description:
  There is a lack of aerosol measurement technology capable of quantifying, in real time, the size, concentration, and composition of large inhalable particles - specifically those with aerodynamic diameter larger than 20 µm. Aerosols of this size penetrate into the upper respiratory system upon inhalation and present surface contamination hazards upon settling. The objective of this work was to validate the performance of a prototype direct-reading particle sizer (DRPS) that counts and sizes particles via time-of-flight light scattering and determines single-particle elemental composition via laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). Counting, sizing, and spectral measurement efficiency were evaluated using test aerosols of multiple materials in the size range 25-125 µm. Particle sizing results showed good agreement with optical microscopy images, and LIBS measurements allow simultaneous elemental composition measurements. The relationship between the median aerodynamic diameters measured by the DRPS time-of-flight and optical microscopy was linear (Deming regression slope of 0.998) and strongly correlated (r2 > 0.999). The mean absolute difference between the median aerodynamic diameters measured by the instrument by time-of-flight and microscopy over all eight test aerosol types was 0.9 µm with a mean difference in interquartile range of 1.9 µm. LIBS spectra have been collected and analyzed to reveal spectral features of species from silver-coated glass and titanium samples. The expected system performance for future field use is considered through numeric simulations based on the instrument parameters and assumed particle size distributions. Finally, potential hardware changes to optimize detection efficiency and facilitate field use are discussed. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aerosols Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Sampling equipment; Mobile equipment; Exposure assessment; Aerosols; Aerosol sampling; Particle size analysis; Particle counters; Direct-reading methods; Spectroscopes
• ISSN:
  0278-6826
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Colorado ; Minnesota ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 6 ; OSHA Region 8 ; Texas
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  223-233
• Volume:
  56
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20065537
• Citation:
  Aerosol Sci Technol 2022 Mar; 56(3):223-233
• Contact Point Address:
  James Sipich, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Colorado State University, 430 N College Ave, Fort Collins, CO 80524, USA
• Email:
  Jsipich100@gmail.com
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2022
• Performing Organization:
  Colorado State University
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20180901
• Source Full Name:
  Aerosol Science and Technology
• End Date:
  20200831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:e059eb4d2aa41801c9afee0ed952e06b159d0be57f84b629a78662ce29e7b531ac76518f86295ddcb2090d113f1c20ecfd21851c71c2b348fe20e74cca1e5624
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/248559/cdc_248559_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.17 MB ]