0000000000379419
AUTHOR
Friederike Fachinger
Aerosol filtration efficiency of household materials for homemade face masks: Influence of material properties, particle size, particle electrical charge, face velocity, and leaks
As a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the widespread daily use of face masks is promoted worldwide. Particle-size dependent filtration efficiencies (FE; dp = 30 nm–10 µm), applying a particle counting approach, and additionally pressure drops (Δp) were determined for 44 samples of household materials and several medical masks. Huge FE differences were found between sample materials and for different particle sizes, spanning from <10% up to almost 100%. Minimum FE were determined for dp = 50–500 nm particles with significantly larger values for dp = 30 nm particles and especially for those with dp > 2.5 µm. Measurements at different numbers of layers…
How villages contribute to their local air quality – The influence of traffic- and biomass combustion-related emissions assessed by mobile mappings of PM and its components
Abstract Mobile mapping experiments were performed in two villages (~400 and ~2500 inhabitants, respectively) in France and Germany in both summer and winter in order to assess the pollutant distribution of several particulate matter (PM) related pollutants (particle number concentration, PM1, PM2.5, PM10; PM1 chemical composition, including inorganic and organic species, black carbon, and polyaromatic hydrocarbons) as well as CO2. Two dominating local emission contributions were found: traffic contributed to organic aerosol (OA), CO2, particle number concentration, PM1, black carbon, and polyaromatic hydrocarbons, whereas significant primary emission contributions from biomass combustion w…
The ion trap aerosol mass spectrometer: improved design, first field deployment, and the capability of differentiating organic compound classes via MS–MS
Abstract. Further development and optimisation of a previously described ion trap aerosol mass spectrometer (IT-AMS) are presented, which resulted in more reproducible and robust operation and allowed for the instrument’s first field deployment. Results from this 11-day long measurement indicate that the instrument is capable of providing quantitative information on organics, nitrate, and sulphate mass concentrations with reasonable detection limits (0.5–1.4 µg m−3 for 1 h averages), and that results obtained with the IT-AMS can directly be related to those from Aerodyne aerosol mass spectrometers. The capability of the IT-AMS to elucidate the structure of fragment ions is demonstrated via …