Deposition Estimation of Workplace Ultrafine Particle in the Worker’s Lower Airways
Abstract No:
1701
Abstract Type:
Student Poster
Authors:
A Cardone1, W Su2
Institutions:
1Student, Houston, TX, 2University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, TX
Presenter:
Alex Cardone
Student
Student
Faculty Advisor:
Wei-Chung Su, Ph.D., CIH
University of Texas Health Science Center
University of Texas Health Science Center
Description:
Worker's exposure to work-related ultrafine particles such as welding fume and 3D printing emissions has been, and continues to be, an important occupational health issue. Therefore, it is essential to investigate the deposition of ultrafine particle in the worker's airways to provide critical data for estimating inhalation dose and further assist ultrafine particle related exposure assessment and risk assessment studies.
Situation/Problem:
Traditional ultrafine particle respiratory deposition experiments rely on using laboratory surrogate particles to represent work-related ultrafine particles. The surrogate particles are considered not representative to the ultrafine particles in the real workplace. In addition, airway replicas used in previous studies only consist of the upper portion of the human tracheobronchial airways, which substantially miss the main deposition sites (lower airways) for ultrafine particles. As a result, useful information acquired from previous respiratory deposition studies is limited.
Methods:
A unique Mobile Aerosol Lung Deposition Apparatus (MALDA) was developed for the purpose of characterizing workplace on-site ultrafine particle respiratory deposition and provides useful information for estimating work-related ultrafine particle inhalation dose and exposure assessment.
The newly developed MALDA possesses a set of representative human airway replicas from nose, mouth, throat, tracheobronchial airways down to the 11th lung generation, and a representative alveolar section. Ultrafine particle deposition in the airways is estimated based on the particle size distribution measured by the ultrafine particle sizer (Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer, SMPS) at the inlet and outlet of the MALDA. Since the MALDA is built on a trolley, it is removable and can be placed in any workplace and provide estimation towards worker's ultrafine particle respiratory deposition.
The newly developed MALDA possesses a set of representative human airway replicas from nose, mouth, throat, tracheobronchial airways down to the 11th lung generation, and a representative alveolar section. Ultrafine particle deposition in the airways is estimated based on the particle size distribution measured by the ultrafine particle sizer (Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer, SMPS) at the inlet and outlet of the MALDA. Since the MALDA is built on a trolley, it is removable and can be placed in any workplace and provide estimation towards worker's ultrafine particle respiratory deposition.
Results / Conclusions:
Result:
In this study, a series of respiratory deposition experiments were carried out in the laboratory using work-related ultrafine particles generated from 3D printing, electric soldering, and vaping. Experimental results showed that the ultrafine particle respiratory deposition can be efficiently and systematically obtained by MALDA. The ultrafine particle deposition in the tracheobronchial airways and in the alveolar region agreed fairly well with the conventional lung deposition curve.
Conclusion:
The MALDA approach is proven to be a useful and powerful tool for studying a workplace's on-site ultrafine particle respiratory deposition to collect in situ, real-time data for assisting occupational health associated ultrafine particle exposure assessments.
In this study, a series of respiratory deposition experiments were carried out in the laboratory using work-related ultrafine particles generated from 3D printing, electric soldering, and vaping. Experimental results showed that the ultrafine particle respiratory deposition can be efficiently and systematically obtained by MALDA. The ultrafine particle deposition in the tracheobronchial airways and in the alveolar region agreed fairly well with the conventional lung deposition curve.
Conclusion:
The MALDA approach is proven to be a useful and powerful tool for studying a workplace's on-site ultrafine particle respiratory deposition to collect in situ, real-time data for assisting occupational health associated ultrafine particle exposure assessments.
Primary Topic:
Aerosols
Secondary Topics:
Exposure Assessment Strategies