Nanotechnologies — Method to quantify air concentrations of carbon black and amorphous silica in the nanoparticle size range in a mixed dust manufacturing environment

This document provides guidelines to quantify and identify air concentration (number of particles/cm3) of particles of carbon black and/or amorphous silica by size in air samples collected in a mixed dust industrial manufacturing environment. The method is defined for air samples collected with an electrical low pressure cascade impactor (ELPCI). on a 25 mm polycarbonate substrate. The method is suitable for sampling in manufacturing environments where there are a variety of particle types contributing to the overall atmosphere. This method is applicable only to environments with chemically and physically distinct particles contributing to aerosols or when confounders can be controlled (e.g. diesel sources). Other sampling methods can also be suitable, though this document is limited to describing methods associated with the electrical low pressure cascade impactor. Samples collected with the electrical low pressure cascade impactor are analyzed via TEM and EDS to for particle morphology and elemental composition, respectively, to permit identification of particles by type. This information is then used, in conjunction with particle concentration by size range, as determined by the electrical low pressure cascade impactor, to determine concentration of the materials of interest by size.