Attachment rate characteristics of different wide used aerosol sources in indoor air

Abstract

In this work, six different aerosol sources, used in everyday life, were investigated to analyze parameters such as concentration, size distributions, and dynamics: regular and electronic cigarettes, incense, candles, mosquito coils, and cooking. During the experiments, the aerosol particle count ranged from 200 to 2·105 cm−3. The number, mass, and specific surface area of the aerosol size distributions were measured by a Model 2702 M diffusion aerosol spectrometer (DAS) with a range of 5 nm to 10 μm. The attachment rate of radon decay products to aerosol particles is calculated depending on their size distribution/ The use of household sources of aerosols (heat treatment of food, smoking, candles, etc.) result in an increase in the concentration of aerosol particles by more than an order of magnitude, mainly due to the generation of ultrafine aerosols with number median diameter 64–92 nm and GSD 1.45–1.84. The mass distribution is dominated by particles with a distribution maximum in the range of 2–5 μm. The attachment of radon decay products to aerosols is associated with ultrafine particles with diameter < 200 nm. The median diameter of the rate of attachment to aerosols is 130 nm. © 2021, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.