Respiratory particle emission rates from children during speaking

The number of respiratory particles emitted during different respiratory activities is one of the main parameters affecting the airborne transmission of respiratory pathogens. Information on respiratory particle emission rates is mostly available for adults (few studies have investigated adolescents and children) and generally involves a limited number of subjects. In the present paper we attempted to reduce this knowledge gap by conducting an extensive experimental campaign to measure the emission of respiratory particles of more than 400 children aged 6 to 12 years while they pronounced a phonetically balanced word list at two different voice intensity levels ("speaking" and "loudly speaking"). Respiratory particle concentrations, particle distributions, and exhaled air flow rates were measured to estimate the respiratory particle emission rate. Sound pressure levels were also simultaneously measured. We found out that median respiratory particle emission rates for speaking and loudly speaking were 26 particles s-1 (range 7.1-93 particles s-1) and 41 particles s-1 (range 10-146 particles s-1), respectively. Children sex was significant for emission rates, with higher emission rates for males during both speaking and loudly speaking. No effect of age on the emission rates was identified. Concerning particle size distributions, for both respiratory activities, a main mode at approximately 0.6 µm and a second minor mode at < 2 µm were observed, and no differences were found between males and females. This information provides important input parameters in predictive models adopted to estimate the transmission risk of airborne pathogens in indoor spaces.

Micro(nano)plastics in the atmosphere of the Atlantic Ocean

The occurrence, long-range atmospheric transport and deposition of micro and nano plastics (MNPLs) remains un-quantified for the oceanic atmosphereopen ocean. Here we show the characterisation of MNPLs and the aerosol composition (PM₁₀) in a north-south Atlantic transect from Vigo (Spain) to Punta Arenas (Chile). The analytical procedure to assess the composition of MNPLs consisted of a double suspect screening approach of the polymers and additives, the two constituents of plastics. Polymers were analysed by size exclusion chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry using an atmospheric pressure photoionization source operated in positive and negative conditions (HPLC(SEC)-APPI(+/-)-HRMS). Plastic additives were screened with high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry using an electrospray ionisation source (HPLC-ESI(+/-)-HRMS). The most common polymers were polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyisoprene (PI), and polystyrene (PS), with the highest polymer concentration being 51.7 ng·m^-3 of PI. The air mass back trajectories showed the variable influence of oceanic and terrestrial air masses. These differences were reflected in the aerosol composition with different contributions of Saharan dust, sea spray aerosol, organic/elemental carbon, and MNPLs. Results showed that samples largely influenced by sea-spray and air masses originating from coastal South America and the north Atlantic subtropical gyre were more contaminated by MNPLs. Moreover, this information was complemented by the characterisation of the largest particles using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and µ-Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (µ-FTIR). This work provides the first field evidence of the long-range transport of MNPLs in most of the Atlantic Ocean, as the result of dynamic coupling between the lower atmosphere and the surface ocean. Sea-spray formation arises as a key driver for the aerosolisation of MNPLs, and atmospheric transport followed by dry deposition may modulate the occurrence of MNPLs in large oceanic regions, issues that will require future research efforts.

Sub-micron particle number emission from residential heating systems: A comparison between conventional and condensing boilers fueled by natural gas and liquid petroleum gas, and pellet stoves

Pollutant emissions from residential heating systems represent a main concern in terms of outdoor air quality. Differently from other pollutants, sub-micron particle emission from heating systems has not yet been exhaustively characterized by the scientific literature, with limited data available, in particular, for gas-fueled boilers. In the present paper, an experimental campaign to measure the sub-micron particle number concentrations and distributions at the stack of different automatically-fed small-scale heating systems (conventional and condensing boilers fueled by natural gas and liquid petroleum gas, and pellet stoves) was performed. Based on the measured concentrations, corresponding emission rates and emission factors were also estimated. The results of the experimental campaign revealed that the highest concentrations were measured for pellet stoves (median value >10⁷ part. m^-3), whereas conventional (about 1 × 10⁶ part. m^-3) and condensing boilers (<10⁶ part. m^-3) presented much lower concentrations. No effect of the fuel (natural gas, liquid petroleum gas) on the total concentration measured at the stack of boilers was recognized, whereas a smaller distribution mode (at 10 nm) was measured for gas-fired boilers. Because of the particle concentration values, the highest particle emission rates and factors were the pellet stove ones (median values of 2.1 × 10¹⁵ part. h^-1 and 8.4 × 10¹³ part. kWh^-1, respectively), whereas emission rates for conventional and condensing boilers were about 5 × 10¹³ part. h^-1 and 2 × 10¹³ part. h^-1, respectively. The estimated emission factors were also adopted to perform a simplified evaluation of the relative contributions of the investigated automatically-fed small-scale heating systems in terms of particle number on a national scale (Italy): we obtained that the pellet stove contribution is the main one as it accounts for 87% of total emissions of particle number for heating purpose.