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Determination of the size of airborne flour particles
C P Sandiford1, M J Nieuwenhuijsen, R D Tee
1Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Royal Brompton National Heart and Lung Hospital, London, UK.
Abstract:
Air sampling was done in a UK bakery and a flour mill with an eight-stage cascade impactor to determine the size of airborne flour particles. The concentration of captured material was determined by a competitive inhibition radioimmunoassay. Comparison of the different sites revealed that 8.79% and 52.14% of the particles in the bakery dough-brake and roll-production areas had a diameter < or = 6.0 microns, respectively, and 19.7% of the particles in the flour mill packing area were of this size. We conclude that in dusty areas up to 20% of the airborne flour particles are of a diameter likely to allow them to be deposited in the bronchial airways and alveoli.