Behavioral characteristics to airborne particles generated from commercial spray products

Taksoo Kim; Jihoon Park; Jungkwan Seo; Hyojung Yoon; Byeongwoo Lee; Hyunwoo Lim; Daeyeop Lee; Pilje Kim; Chungsik Yoon; Kiyoung Lee; Kyung-Duk Zoh

doi:10.1016/j.envint.2020.105747

Behavioral characteristics to airborne particles generated from commercial spray products

Environ Int. 2020 Jul:140:105747. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2020.105747. Epub 2020 May 1.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Risk Assessment Division, National Institute of Environmental Research, Incheon 22689, South Korea; Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, South Korea.
² Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, South Korea.
³ Risk Assessment Division, National Institute of Environmental Research, Incheon 22689, South Korea.
⁴ Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, Munemi-ro 478-1, Bupyeong-gu, Incheon 21417, South Korea.
⁵ Institute of Health and Environment, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea.
⁶ Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, South Korea. Electronic address: zohkd@snu.ac.kr.

PMID: 32371310
DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2020.105747

Abstract

Commercial spray products are commonly used in daily life and airborne particles generated by these products may cause adverse health effects. Our study was aimed to characterize the behaviors of airborne particles from spray products and to determine the deposition loss rate. Four categories of spray products with highly frequent use - air fresheners, fabric deodorants, window cleaners, and a bathroom cleaner - were selected for the study. The products were applied in a cleanroom according to the instructions for use. Airborne particles (10-10,000 nm) were measured within the breathing zone of a user with a scanning mobility particle sizer and an optical particle spectrometer. Additionally, filter sampling was performed to examine the morphological characteristics of the particles using a field emission-scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM). The initial concentration and particle size distribution varied among different spray types and products. Two propellant-type air fresheners that we tested showed a high initial concentration of smaller sized particles. However, one of these and all hand-pressure type propellants showed a low initial concentration in all size ranges. We observed that particles in nucleation mode (10-31.6 nm) decreased and aggregated particles shifted to accumulation mode (100-1,000 nm) over time. The FS-SEM analysis confirmed the aggregation of nano-sized particles for all products. The deposition loss rates of various particle sizes depended on the initial concentration and distribution of particle sizes. For two air fresheners with high initial concentrations, the loss rate of small-sized particles was higher than that of the other products whereas the particle loss rate of large-sized particles was higher, regardless of initial concentration. The results of this study can give us useful information in the behaviors of airborne particles in the consumer spray products and resulting exposure assessment especially in the application to the exposure modeling of spray products.

Keywords: Airborne particle; Behavioral characteristics; Consumer exposure model; Inhalation exposure; Spray product.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aerosols*
Air Pollution, Indoor*
Household Products
Particle Size

Substances

Aerosols