Exposure in the workplace - Measurement of the dustiness of massive materials that contain or may release nanomaterials or their aggregates and agglomerates (NOAA), or other respirable particles - Part 4: Small rotary drum method

he standard specifies the methodology for measuring and characterizing the dustiness of bulk materials that contain or release NOAA, or other respirable particles, in standard and reproducible conditions, using the small rotating drum method. The document describes the type of instruments and devices, and the procedures for calculating and presenting the results. It also indicates the guidelines for evaluation and how to report the data. The methodology described in this document allows: a) the measurement of the mass fraction of breathable dustiness, b) the measurement of the dustiness index based on the particle count in the respirable fraction of the airborne dusts having an aerodynamic diameter between about 10 nm and about 1 µm, c) the measurement of the initial emission speed and the time to reach 50% of the total number of particles released during the test, d) the measurement of the particle distribution, in the aerosol released in the range of aerodynamic diameter between 10 nm to about 10 µm, e) the collection of the particles in the respirable dust fraction for subsequent observations and analyzes by electron microscopy. This document is applicable for the analysis of a wide range of materials including powders, granulates or pellets that contain or release respirable NOAAs, or other respirable particles either in unbound, bound or uncovered form or only covered.