Correlation between airborne particle concentrations in seven industrial plants and estimated respiratory tract deposition by number, mass and elemental composition

The number and mass distribution of airborne particles were recorded in several industrial plants. From the data obtained, particle deposition was estimated in three regions of the respiratory tract using the ICRP grand average deposition model based on Hinds' (1999) parameterization. The median diameter was 30–70 nm (number distributions), and >4 μm (mass distributions) near most work activities, resulting in linear relationships between the deposited number/mass concentrations and the number/mass concentrations in the air. Welding and laser cutting produced particles in the 200–500-nm range; total deposition was small, not in accordance with the linear relationship observed for the other work activities. The elemental content varied between particle sizes in some workplaces, causing different elements to deposit in different respiratory regions. Iron was the most abundant element in the particles in many of the workplaces; in an iron foundry, however, Fe was most abundant only in the micron-sized particles whereas the nanoparticles mainly comprised Pb and Sb.

Research highlights
► Measured number and mass distributions of airborne particles in industrial plants.
► Estimated particle deposition in three regions of the human respiratory tract.
► Often got linear relationship between deposited and airborne particle concentration.
► Sometimes found that the elemental content varied between particle sizes.
► Demonstrates the importance of measuring particle sizes and elemental composition.