Abstract
The present study was carried out with the aim of evaluating the performance of six different aerosol samplers in terms of mass concentration, particle size distribution, and mass fraction for the international size-sampling conventions. The international size-sampling criteria were defined as inhalable, thoracic, and respirable mass fractions with 50% cutoff at an aerodynamic equivalent diameter of 100 μm, 10 μm, and 4 μm, respectively. Two Andersen, four total suspended particulate (TSP), two RespiCon, four PM10, two DustTrak, and two SidePak samplers were selected and tested to quantitatively estimate human exposure in a carefully controlled particulate matter (PM) test chamber. The overall results indicate that (1) Andersen samplers underestimate total suspended PM and overestimate thoracic and respirable PM due to particle bounce and carryover between stages, (2) TSP samplers provide total suspended PM as reference samplers, (3) TSP samplers quantified by a coulter counter multisizer provide no information below an equivalent spherical diameter of 2 μm and therefore underestimate respirable PM, (4) RespiCon samplers are free from particle bounce as inhalable samplers but underestimate total suspended PM, (5) PM10 samplers overestimate thoracic PM, and (6) DustTrak and SidePak samplers provide relative PM concentrations instead of absolute PM concentrations.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 280-289 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Atmospheric Environment |
Volume | 43 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2009 Jan |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors are thankful to the Exxon Mobil Corporation for financial support. Part of this work was also supported by the Brain Korea-21 (BK-21) research project. Sincere thanks are extended to Dr. Calvin B. Parnell and CAAQES for allowing us to use their chamber and instruments for the present study.
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Environmental Science(all)
- Atmospheric Science