A Novel Device for Measuring Respirable Dustiness Using Low Mass Powder Samples ; J Occup Environ Hyg

Respirable dustiness represents the tendency of a powder to generate respirable airborne dust during handling and therefore indicates the propensity for a powder to become an inhalation hazard. The dustiness of fourteen powders, including ten different nanopowders, was evaluated with the use of a novel low mass dustiness tester (LMDT) designed to minimize the use of the test powder. The aerosol created from 15-mg powder samples falling down a tube were measured with an aerodynamic particle sizer (APS). Particle counts integrated throughout the pulse of aerosol created by the falling powder were used to calculate a respirable dustiness mass fraction (D, mg/kg). An amorphous silicon dioxide nanopowder produced a respirable D of 121.4 mg/kg which was significantly higher than all other powders (p<0.001). Many nanopowders produced D values of that were not significantly different from large-particle powders such as Arizona Road Dust and Bentonite clay. In general, fibrous nanopowders and powders with primary particles > 100 nm are not as dusty as those containing granular, nano-sized primary particles. The method used here, incorporating an APS, represents a deviation from a standard method but resulted in dustiness values comparable to other standard methods. ; 2013-02-05T00:00:00Z ; PMC3564649