A Novel Device for Measuring Respirable Dustiness Using Low Mass Powder Samples

Details

• Alternative Title:
  J Occup Environ Hyg
• Personal Author:
  O’Shaughnessy, Patrick T. ; Kang, Mitchell ; Ellickson, Daniel
• Description:
  Respirable dustiness represents the tendency of a powder to generate respirable airborne dust during handling and therefore indicates the propensity for a powder to become an inhalation hazard. The dustiness of 14 powders, including 10 different nanopowders, was evaluated with the use of a novel low-mass dustiness tester designed to minimize the use of the test powder. The aerosol created from 15-mg powder samples falling down a tube were measured with an aerodynamic particle sizer (APS). Particle counts integrated throughout the pulse of aerosol created by the falling powder were used to calculate a respirable dustiness mass fraction (D, mg/kg). An amorphous silicon dioxide nanopowder produced a respirable D of 121.4 mg/kg, which was significantly higher than all other powders (p < 0.001). Many nanopowders produced D values that were not significantly different from large-particle powders, such as Arizona Road Dust and bentonite clay. In general, fibrous nanopowders and powders with primary particles >100 nm are not as dusty as those containing granular, nano-sized primary particles. The method used here, incorporating an APS, represents a deviation from a standard method but resulted in dustiness values comparable to other standard methods.
• Subjects:
  Dust Environmental Monitoring Inhalation Exposure Nanoparticles Occupational Exposure Particle Size
• Source:
  J Occup Environ Hyg. 9(3):129-139.
• Pubmed ID:
  22335240
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC3564649
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  P30 ES005605/ES/NIEHS NIH HHS/United States ; P30 ES05605-11/ES/NIEHS NIH HHS/United States ; R01 OH008806-01/OH/NIOSH CDC HHS/United States
• Volume:
  9
• Issue:
  3
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:18350e00a2fc0565ef5c851ee1c47fd1f4d258d4e85c92473af9788c0cb355ab
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/33510/cdc_33510_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.98 MB ]