Characterization of aerosols and nanoparticles released during various indoor and outdoor human activities

Human beings are continuously exposed to different types of particles such as those included in consumer products, like sun lotions or toothpaste. There are various processes that contribute to particulate matter pollution. Outdoor sources of particles are e.g. emissions caused by vehicles, burning of fossil fuels, industry and household processes. Activities such as tobacco smoking or cooking are major sources of particle emission indoor, but also using electrical appliances contributes to the indoor particle concentration. The exposure to fine and ultrafine particles is associated with adverse health effects, which depend on size, shape and chemical composition of the particles. It is therefore important to characterize in depth particles released during various human activities. The first part of the PhD thesis focuses on the study of particles emitted during different indoor and outdoor processes. Emissions caused by using electrical appliances such as hair dryers and flat irons were investigated using a test chamber. Various aerosol characteristics were measured, for instance the particle number and volume concentration and the particle size distributions. The released particles of the hair dryers and the flat irons were analyzed by means of electron microscopy, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and gas chromatography mass spectrometry. All tested appliances produced a considerable amount of ultrafine particles. Copper-containing particles were found in the emission of all hair dryers. Various volatile organic compounds were observed in the emission of hair dryers and flat irons as well. The use of these electric appliances may significantly contribute to the personal particle exposure. These findings can be important to employees of laundry and ironing services and professional hairdressers. It is recommended that good ventilation should be provided during and after the use of hair dryers or flat irons. Air pollution during New Year’s fireworks 2015/2016 and 2016/2017 was studied as well. Especially inhabitants of large cities are affected by the firework displays. The airborne particles emitted during these fireworks were collected and characterized using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and electron microscopy. It was found that samples collected on days with firework contained a large number of potassium sulfate or potassium sulfite particles (up to 93%), in comparison to days without firework where these kind of particles were not found. The concentrations of various metals in the air were significantly higher on days with fireworks as well. It can be recommended to keep the windows closed during and some hours after fireworks in order to avoid exposure to metal containing airborne particles. The exposure of employees and spectators to particulate matter of eight indoor go-kart facilities was also measured. Six facilities using gasoline, one using liquid gas and one using electricity for go-karts were investigated. A wide range of aerosol characteristics was measured; for example the particle number, volume and mass concentration and the particle size distribution. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and electron microscopy were applied for the analysis. It was found, that workplaces were much stronger exposed to PM10 and PM2.5 than the spectator areas. The highest PM10 and PM2.5 and particle number concentration values were measured for the go-kart facility using liquid gas. Various metals were detected by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry in the indoor air samples of the go-kart facilities. Iron with concentrations up to 5.6 µg/m³ (electric go-kart facility) was the most abundant metal. In all samples agglomerates with iron, copper and other metals were found by using electron microscopy. Additionally high concentrations of soot were detected in almost all samples except for the samples of the electric go-kart facility. For minimizing health risks for visitors and employees of indoor go-kart facilities it can be recommended to use go-karts with electric motors in combination with a good ventilation system. In the last part of the PhD thesis nano titanium dioxide, which is used in sun lotions as a physical (mineral) filter, was studied. According to requirements of the Cosmetic Regulation No. 1223/2009 all nanomaterials which are present in cosmetic products shall be clearly indicated. Therefore it is important to have analytical techniques, which are sensitive enough and have the required spatial resolution to characterize the nanoparticles in cosmetics such as sun lotions. The sun lotions contained various compounds that obscure imaging of TiO2-particles without preceding sample preparation. For this reason different defatting methods were tested and a new sample preparation method was developed. After this sample treatment imaging and characterization of titanium dioxide particles by electron microscopy was finally possible. Six sun screens that were labeled as TiO2 containing were studied. Only in five sun lotions titanium dioxide aggregates with primary particle sizes below 100 nm were found. One product contained neither TiO2 nor ZnO despite of the labeling. The results show that this method can be applied for the control of skin care products and control of cosmetic products labelled according to the Cosmetic Regulation