Regional aerosol deposition in human upper airways. Final report

During the award period, a number of studies have been carried out related to the overall objective of the project which is to elucidate important factors which influence the upper airway deposition and dose of particles in the size range 0.5 nm - 10 {mu}m, such as particle size, breathing conditions, age, airway geometry, and mode of breathing. These studies are listed below. (1) A high voltage electrospray system was constructed to generate polydispersed 1-10 {mu}m diameter di-ethylhexyl sebacate aerosol for particle deposition studies in nasal casts and in human subjects. (2) The effect of nostril dimensions, nasal passage geometry, and nasal resistance on particle deposition efficiency in forty healthy, nonsmoking adults at a constant flowrate were studied. (3) The effect of nostril dimensions, nasal passage dimensions and nasal resistance on the percentage of particle deposition in the anterior 3 cm of the nasal passage of spontaneously breathing humans were studied. (4) The region of deposition of monodispersed aerosols were studied using replicate casts. (5) Ultrafine aerosol deposition using simulated breath holding path and natural path was compared. (6) An experimental technique was proposed and tested to measure the oral deposition of inhaled ultrafine particles. (7) We have calculated the total deposition fraction of ultrafine aerosols from 5 to 200 n in the extrathoracic airways and in the lung. (8) The deposition fraction of radon progeny in the head airways was studied using several head airway models