Abstract
Exposure to radioactive aerosols of accidental origin is harmful to human health. Radioactive aerosols have an ability to self-charge due to ionization, and this influences their deposition behavior, but this effect has been rarely studied. In a test chamber study, the effect is investigated by using a corona unit to apply charges that are representative of the levels found on radioactive particles to three aerosol size distributions of 0.5 μm, 1.0 μm and 2.0 μm. Aerosol deposition velocities were calculated for each particle size, two chamber airflow values, three aerosol charge regimes (high positive, high negative, and no corona charging), and three interior wall surfaces (aluminum, wallpaper, polyethylene). The results show no significant difference between deposition velocities of charged aerosols of opposite polarities, but a difference of up to 72% between deposition velocities of corona-charged and uncharged aerosols. For all aerosol sizes and charge regimes, aerosol deposition was found to be enhanced to the greatest degree when the chamber walls were lined with polyethylene, with values found to be up to 4–8 times higher than those calculated in aluminum-walled chamber cases.
Highlights
Charged aerosols arise in the environment from a number of sources, one of which is nuclear accidents
Building envelope shielding and indoor aerosol deposition can provide some degree of protection from radioactive aerosol exposure, but this is a poorly understood topic, as aerosol deposition measurements to date have focused on particles which, unlike radioactive aerosols, do not carry appreciable electrical charge. To fill this knowledge gap, and to contribute generally to a better understanding of charged aerosol deposition, the objective of the current work is to carry out test chamber measurements of aerosol deposition velocities using particles that carry an electrical charge that is representative of radioactive aerosols
For 0.5 μm particles, the analysis indicates that C+ and C– deposition velocities are not statistically different (p = 0.308), but a comparison between C+ and nC indicates a significant difference (p < 0.001), with C+ being higher than nC by 72%
Summary
Charged aerosols arise in the environment from a number of sources, one of which is nuclear accidents. Nuclear accidents can pose a large-scale risk to human health due to long-range transport of radioactive aerosols. Human exposure to radioactive aerosols occurs via inhalation, ingestion, and dermal contact (Kannan et al, 2001; Andersson et al, 2006; Homoki et al, 2013; Potiriadis et al, 2013). The exposure to radiation through inhalation and ingestion of radionuclides from the Chernobyl accident resulted in an increased number of thyroid cancer cases (Acar et al, 2011; Thomas et al, 2011). It is the process of aerosol deposition that alters the route of exposure, and
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