This European Standard provides the methodology for measuring and characterizing the dustiness of bulk materials that contain or release nano-objects or submicrometer particles, under standard and reproducible conditions and specifies for that purpose the vortex shaker method. In addition, this European Standard specifies the selection of instruments and devices and the procedures for calculating and presenting the results. It also gives guidelines on the evaluation and reporting of the data. The methodology described in this European Standard enables a) the measurement of the respirable dustiness mass fraction, b) the determination of the mass-based dustiness index of respirable particles in the size range from about 10 nm to 1 000 nm; c) the determination of the number-based dustiness index of respirable particles in the size range from about 10 nm to 1 000 nm; d) the determination of the number-based emission rate of respirable particles in the size range from about 10 nm to 1 000 nm; e) the determination of the number size distribution of the released respirable aerosol in the size range from about 10 nm to 10 μm; f) the collection of released airborne particles in the respirable fraction for subsequent observations and analysis by electron microscopy. This European Standard is applicable to the testing of a wide range of bulk materials including nanomaterials in powder form.
