Open Access

Ultrafine particles emitted from laser printers are suspected to elicit adverse health effects. We performed 75-minute exposures to emissions of laser printing devices (LPDs) in a standardized, randomized, cross- over manner in 23 healthy subjects, 14 mild, stable asthmatics, and 15 persons reporting symptoms associated with LPD emissions. Low-level exposures (LLE) ranged at the particle background (3000 cm−3) and High-level exposures (HLE) at 100 000 cm−3. Examinations before and after exp sures included spirometry, body plethysmography, transfer factors for CO and NO (TLCO, TLNO), bronchial and alveolar NO, cytokines in serum and nasal secretions (IL-1β, IL-5, IL-6, IL-8, GM-CSF, IFNγ, TNFα), serum ECP, and IgE. Across all participants, no statistically significant changes occurred for lung mechanics and NO. There was a decrease in volume-related TLNO that was more pronounced in HLE, but the difference to LLE was not significant. ECP and IgE increased in the same way after exposures. Nasal IL-6 showed a higher increase after LLE. There was no coherent pattern regarding the responses in the participant subgroups or single sets of variables. In conclusion, the experimental acute responses to short but very high-level LPD exposures were small and did not indicate clinically relevant effects compared to low particle number concentrations.

Der vorliegende Bericht ist der 2.Teil eines Gesamtberichtes und schildert ausführlich die im Kontext des BAM-Innovationsoffensive-Projektes „Chemische Brandspurenanalytik“ durchgeführten Untersuchungen und fasst die gewonnenen analytischen Erkenntnisse zusammen. Der gesamte Bericht gliedert sich in drei Teile. Der erste Teil beinhaltet den Aufbau, die Durchführung und die brandtechnologische Auswertung der durchgeführten Raumbrandversuche, während in dem hier vorliegenden Teil die analytischen Methoden zum Nachweis des Brandbeschleunigers in den Brandrückständen vorgestellt und ausgewertet werden. Die Beurteilung von Brandspuren und daraus abgeleitet die Rekonstruktion eines Brandverlaufes beruhen auch auf der präzisen chemischen Analyse der Brandprodukte. Im Rahmen dieses Projektes wurde eine innovative Methodik entwickelt, wie verfügbare Analysetechniken in geeigneter Weise kombiniert werden können, um aus festen, flüssigen und gasförmigen Brandrückständen Rückschlüsse auf den Brandverlauf ziehen zu können. Neben der Untersuchung von Proben von realen Brandorten wurden verschiedene wohnungstypische Materialien unter Laborbedingungen unterschiedlichen Brandszenarien unterworfen. Die dabei entstehenden Brandgase, Aerosole sowie der verbleibende Brandrückstand wurden durch geeignete analytische Verfahren analysiert, um mögliche Brandursachen beurteilen zu können. Der Schwerpunkt dieses Berichtes liegt in dem Nachweis von Brandbeschleunigern. Es zeigte sich, dass mittels der Kombination aus HS-SPME-GC-MS sowohl in den festen Brandrückständen, als auch in den Kondensaten Brandbeschleuniger eindeutig und verlässlich nachgewiesen werden können. Anhand von 5 verschiedenen Zimmerbrandversuchen wurde der Einfluss von Brandbeschleunigern auf den Brandverlauf experimentell untersucht. Es wurden verschiedene brandtechnologische Kennwerte, wie der Massenverlust des gesamten Brandraums, Brandraumtemperaturen, die Wärmefreisetzungen sowie die Rauchgasemissionen ermittelt und beurteilt. Die Rauchgasanalyse erfolgte im Schlot, im Brandraum sowie in der Brandraumöffnung mittels Fourier Transformierte Infrarot-FTIR-Spektroskopie. Neben diesen brandtechnologischen Untersuchungen, die im Bericht Teil 1 enthalten sind, erfolgten auch chemisch-analytische Untersuchungen nach dem Brand, mit dem Ziel, den eingesetzten Brandbeschleuniger nachzuweisen. Im Anschluss an die jeweiligen Zimmerbrandversuche wurden verschiedene Brandrückstandsproben aus dem Brandschutt, Wischproben von den Wänden und den übriggebliebenen Gegenständen genommen und mit Hilfe einer entwickelten HS-SPME-GC-MS-Methode (Headspace-Solid Phase Micro Extraction-Gas Chromatographie-Massenspekrometrie) in Hinblick eines möglichen Brandbeschleunigernachweis analysiert.

In this work, we characterise the performance of a Sharp optical aerosol sensor model GP2Y1010AU0F. The sensor was exposed to different environments: to a clean room, to a controlled atmosphere with known aerosol size distribution and to the ambient atmosphere on a busy city street. During the exposure, the output waveforms of the sensor pulses were digitised, saved and a following offline analysis enabled us to study the behaviour of the sensor pulse-by-pulse. A linear response of the sensor on number concentration of the monosized dispersed PSL particles was shown together with an almost linear dependence on particle diameters in the 0.4 to 4 micrometer range. The gathered data about the sensor were used to predict its response to an ambient atmosphere, which was observed simultaneously with a calibrated optical particle counter.

Quantitative chemical analysis of airborne particulate matter (PM) is vital for the understanding of health effects in indoor and outdoor environments and required by EU air quality regulations. Typically, airborne particles are sampled on filters, followed by lab-based analysis, e.g., with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Within the EURAMET EMPIR AEROMET project, cascade impactor aerosol sampling was combined with on-site total reflection X-ray fluorescence (TXRF) spectroscopy. The study aimed at a proof of principles for this new mobile and on-size tool for the quantification of aerosol element compositions and element mass concentrations within short time intervals of less than 12 h. In a field campaign the method’s technical feasibility could be demonstrated. The TXRF results were traced back to a stationary, reference-free XRS setup in the laboratory of the German national metrology institute PTB at the BESSY II electron storage ring in Berlin, Germany. Simultaneous PM10-filter sampling, followed by standardized lab-based analysis, allowed for a comparison of the field campaign data of both methods. As Fig. 1 shows, the correspondence between PM10 filter sampling and ICP-MS, and on the other hand, cascade impactor sampling and TXRF is quite encouraging. However, for some of the analysed elements, e.g. V and Pb, the observed deviations are higher than expected and this highlights the fact, that spectral deconvolution strategies for TXRF on cascade impactor samples still need some improvement. This work was supported by the EMPIR programme, co-financed by the Participating States and from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, through grant agreements 16ENV07 AEROMET and 19ENV08 AEROMET II

A new facility has been developed which allows for a stable and reproducible production of ambient-like model aerosols (PALMA) in the laboratory. The set-up consists of multiple aerosol generators, a custom-made flow tube homogeniser, isokinetic sampling probes, and a system to control aerosol temperature and humidity. Model aerosols containing elemental carbon, secondary organic matter from the ozonolysis of α-pinene, inorganic salts such as ammonium sulfate and ammonium nitrate, mineral dust particles,and water were generated under different environmental conditions and at different number and mass concentrations. The aerosol physical and chemical properties were characterised with an array of experimental methods, including scanning mobility particle sizing, ion chromatography, total reflection X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy and thermo-optical analysis. The facility is very versatile and can find applications in the calibration and performance characterisation of aerosol instruments monitoring ambient air. In this study, we performed, as proof of concept, an intercomparison of three different commercial PM (particulate matter) monitors (TEOM1405, DustTrak DRX 8533 and Fidas Frog) with the gravimetric reference method under three simulated environmental scenarios. The results are presented and compared to previous field studies. We believe that the laboratory-based method for simulating ambient aerosols presented here could provide in the future a useful alternative to time-consuming and expensive field campaigns, which are often required for instrument certification and calibration.