Study to characterize indoor particles in three non-smoking homes

Technical Report · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1991

OSTI ID:6244016

Kamens, R; Lee, C T; Wiener, R; Leith, D

Aerosol concentrations and particle size distributions in three middle income homes were characterized over a 3-day period. Occupants of the homes were non-smokers. A single central sampling location between the kitchen and dining room areas was used in each of the homes. 37 and 47 mm prototype personal sampling inlets were collocated with two fixed PM(Sub 10) dichotomous ambient samplers to determine the average concentration of particulate mass during daytime and evening-early morning sampling periods. Particulate concentrations in the 3 homes ranged from 14 - 42 micrograms/cu m. On the average, 37% of the particle mass was collected in a fine (2.5 micrometers aerodynamic diameter or below) fraction, 26% was observed in a coarse fraction between 2.5 an 10 micrometers, and 37% was found in a fraction equal to or greater than 10 micrometers. Particle concentrations obtained with prototype personal samplers compared reasonably well to those obtained with 10 micrometers ambient air dichotomous samplers. Aerosol size information obtained from automated aerosol instruments suggests that the most significant event for generating small particles in all of the households was cooking. Household vacuum sweeping was the most significant large particle generating event.

• Research Organization: North Carolina Univ., Chapel Hill, NC (United States). Dept. of Environmental Sciences and Engineering
• OSTI ID: 6244016
• Report Number(s): PB-91-242982/XAB
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540120* -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
AEROSOLS
AIR POLLUTION
AIR POLLUTION MONITORING
AIR SAMPLERS
BUILDINGS
COHERENT SCATTERING
COLLOIDS
DIFFRACTION
DISPERSIONS
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
EQUIPMENT
HOUSES
INDOOR AIR POLLUTION
MATHEMATICS
MICROSCOPY
MONITORING
PARTICLE SIZE
PARTICLES
PARTICULATES
POLLUTION
REGRESSION ANALYSIS
RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
SAMPLERS
SCATTERING
SIZE
SOLS
STATISTICS
X-RAY DIFFRACTION