AAAR 32nd Annual Conference
September 30 - October 4, 2013
Oregon Convention Center
Portland, Oregon, USA
Abstract View
Characterize the Size Distribution of Walking-induced Particle Resuspension
YILIN TIAN, Andrea R. Ferro, Clarkson University
Abstract Number: 529 Working Group: Indoor Aerosols
Abstract Walking-induced particle resuspension has received significant attention as a contributor of indoor particulate matter exposure. Resuspension of micron size particles has been well characterized by previous studies. However, there is still a knowledge gap regarding the lower end of the resuspended particle size distribution. The lack of information in submicron particle resuspension has been possibly due to high background concentration or instrumentation limitation, as optical particle instruments have commonly been used. This study aimed to characterize the lower end of the resuspended particle size distribution by conducting a chamber study using a mechanical foot to mimic human walking. Particle resuspension from cut pile carpet and vinyl flooring were tested. House dust collected from residences was used to soil the floorings. A Model 1000XP Wide Range Particle Spectrometer (WPS™) was used to measure the airborne concentration of particles range from 0.05 to 10 microns. Preliminary results showed that the smallest particles resuspended due to shoe-floor contact were about 0.1 micron in diameter from both flooring types, which extends the size range (0.3-25 micron) reported in previous studies.