Personal sampling of airborne particles: method performance and data quality

A study of personal exposure to respirable particles (PM10) and fine particles (FP) was conducted in groups of 50-70 year-old adults and primary school children in the Netherlands. Four to eight personal measurements per subject were conducted, on weekdays only. Averaging time was 24 hours. Method performance was evaluated regarding compliance, flow, weighing procedure, field blanks and co-located operation of the personal samplers with stationary methods. Furthermore, the possibility that subjects change their behavior due to the wearing of personal sampling equipment was studied by comparing time activity on days of personal sampling with time activity other weekdays. Compliance was high; 95% of the subjects who agreed to continue participating after the first measurement, successfully completed the study, and, expect for the first two days of FP sampling, over 90% of all personal measurements were successful. All pre and post sampling flow readings were within 10% of the required flow rate of 4 L/min. For PM10 precision of the gravimetric analyses was 2.8 microgram/m3 and 0.7 micrograms/m3 for filters weighted on an analytical and a micro-balance respectively. The detection limit was 10.8 micrograms/m3 and 8.6 micrograms/m3 respectively. For FP, weighing precision was 0.4 micrograms/m3 and the detection limit was 5.3 micrograms/m3. All measurements were above the detection limit. Co-located operation of the personal sampler with stationary samplers gave highly correlated concentration (R > 0.90). Outdoor PM10 concentrations measured with the personal sampler were on average 4% higher compared to a Sierra Anderson (SA) inlet and 9% higher compared to a PM10 Harvard Impactor (HI). With the FP cyclone 6% higher classroom concentrations were measured compared to a PM2.5 HI. Adults spent significantly less time outdoor (0.5 hour) and more time at home (0.9 hour) on days of personal sampling compared to other weekdays. For children no significant differences in time activity were found.