Effect of hygroscopic growth upon the regional dispersion of particulates in human airways

Technical Report · Fri May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1987

OSTI ID:6069010

Martonen, T B; Graham, R C

To improve aerosol therapy regimens or to assess the health hazards of inhaled toxic particulates, the dose delivered to the human respiratory tract must be determined. The efficiency with which an aerosol is deposited in various compartments of the tract is a function of its mass median aerodynamic diameter, MMAD (Task Group on Lung Dynamics, 1966). If an airborne particle is hygroscopic, it will change in geometric diameter and density as a result of water vapor uptake; its MMAD, therefore, will vary with location throughout the human respiratory tract. As a result, its dose distribution will differ from that for a nonhygroscopic (i.e., hydrophobic) aerosol of identical inhaled MMAD.

• Research Organization: Northrop Services, Inc., Research Triangle Park, NC (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6069010
• Report Number(s): PB-87-196499/XAB
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
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63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
AEROSOLS
AIR POLLUTION
COLLOIDS
DISPERSIONS
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
HAZARDS
HEALTH HAZARDS
HYGROSCOPICITY
MATERIALS
PARTICLES
PARTICULATES
POLLUTION
RESPIRATION
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
SOLS
TOXICITY
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