Bioaerosols in the lungs of subjects with different ages-part 1: deposition modeling

In this contribution the inhalation and deposition of bioaerosols including particles with various shapes and sizes were investigated for probands with different ages (1, 5, 15 and 20 y). The study should help to increase our knowledge with regard to the behavior of variably shaped and sized particles in lungs being subject to different developmental stages.

Simulation of particle transport and deposition in single structures of the respiratory tract was conducted by using a stochastic model of the tracheobronchial tree and well-validated analytical and empirical deposition formulae. Possible effects of particle geometry on deposition were taken into consideration by application of the aerodynamic diameter concept. Age-dependent lung morphometry and breathing parameters were computed by using appropriate scaling factors.

Theoretical simulations came to the result that bioparticle deposition in infants and children clearly differs from that in adolescents and adults insofar as the amount of deposited mass exhibits a positive correlation with age. Nose breathing results in higher extrathoracic deposition rates than mouth breathing and, as a consequence of that, lower particle amounts are enabled to enter the lung structures after passing the nasal airways. Under sitting breathing conditions highest alveolar deposition rates were calculated for particles adopting aerodynamic diameters of 10 nm and 4 µm, respectively.

The study comes to the conclusion that bioparticles have a lower chance to reach the alveoli in infants' and children's lungs, but show a higher alveolar deposition probability in the lungs of adolescents and adults. Despite of this circumstance also young subjects may increasingly suffer from biogenic particle burden, when they are subject to a long-term exposure to certain bioaerosols.