Harmful effects of airborne dust diffused from ceramic tiles during home decoration

• A novel sample preparation method made the particles dispersed well.
• Particle characteristics were studied using four devices and image processing.
• The harmful effects of airborne dust were evaluated accurately.

Exposure to airborne dust from ceramic tiles usually occurs during home decoration and may cause various diseases, such as chronic bronchitis, asthma and pneumoconiosis. The hazardous effects of dust particles are associated with their particle characteristics (i.e., size distributions, shape factors and elemental composition). This study proposed a method for evaluating the harmful effects of airborne dust on decorators. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and image processing technology were used to characterize the morphology of the particles and to measure the size and size distribution of dust particles generated from cutting and grinding of ceramic tiles. In addition, the 3D natural morphology of the dust was featured by atomic force microscopy (AFM) simply. The major chemical composition of the particles was characterized qualitatively through SEM in conjunction with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). X-ray fluorescence (XRF) was used to quantitatively determine the major elements and toxic trace elements quantitatively which were not detected by EDX. Experimental results showed that 99% of the particles were < 2.5 μm in 2D equivalent diameter, polygonal in 2D projection shape and flaky in natural morphology. Most particles were composed of silica and aluminosilicate. The particles also contained some toxic trace elements, such as Cr, Pb and As, exceeded the allowed standard. The proposed method can effectively characterize the features of dust, and this study can be used as basis for implementing protection guidelines for decorators.

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