AAAR 32nd Annual Conference
September 30 - October 4, 2013
Oregon Convention Center
Portland, Oregon, USA
Abstract View
Performance of a Personal Thermal Precipitator to Assess Nanoparticle Exposures
David Leith, John Volckens, DAN MILLER-LIONBERG, Traci Lersch, Gary Casuccio, Colorado State University
Abstract Number: 184 Working Group: Engineered Nanoparticles: Emissions, Transformation and Exposure
Abstract A thermal precipitatation sampler (TPS) has been developed and evaluated to assess personal exposure to engineered nanoparticles. The TPS is about the size and weight of a smart phone and collects particles on a standard TEM grid. It contains a sampling head, pump, mass-flow controller, and batteries that allow sampling for up to sixteen hours. Sampling parameters can be set or adjusted using surface-mounted buttons and a digital display. After sampling and removal of the TEM grid, a high resolution electron microscope is used to analyze the nanoparticles collected on the grid. This presentation describes the development and use of a “transfer function” that relates the number and sizes of the nanoparticles collected on the TEM grid to the concentration and size distribution of the nanoparticle aerosol sampled. The validity of this transfer function is evaluated through experiments for particles between 20 and 600 nm in diameter. Further analysis of the collected nanoparticles using energy dispersive spectroscopy allows discriminating engineered nanoparticles that may be of particular concern, from nanoparticles of natural or incidental sources. We have demonstrated TPS performance for sampling and discriminating engineered and non-engineered nanoparticles in the laboratory and in the field. Thus, the TPS allows evaluation of the potential health risk due to exposure to specific, engineered nanoparticles independently of the potential risk posed by exposure to other aerosol particles that may be present at the same time.