The objective of this study was to investigate the efficacy of an aerodynamic separation scheme for obtaining aerosols with nearly monodisperse fiber lengths as test samples for mechanistic toxicological evaluations. The approach involved the separation of aerosolized glass fibers using an Aerodynamic Aerosol Classifier (AAC) or a multi-cyclone sampling array, followed by the collection of separated samples on filter substrates, and the measurement of each sample fiber length distribution. A glass fiber aerosol with a narrow range of aerodynamic sizes was selected and sampled with the AAC or multi-cyclone sampling array in two separate setups. The fiber length and diameter were measured using a field emission scanning electron microscope. The glass fiber aerosol was separated in distinct groups of eight with the AAC and of four with the multi-cyclone sampling array. The geometric standard deviations of the fiber length distributions of the separated aerosols ranged from 1.49 to 1.69 for the AAC and from 1.6 to 1.8 for multi-cyclone sampling array. While the separation of glass fiber aerosols with an AAC is likely to produce two different length fiber groups and the length resolution may be acceptable, the overall mass throughput of these separation schemes is limited.

这项研究的目的是研究一种气动分离方案的有效性，该方案可用于获得纤维长度几乎为单分散的气溶胶，作为机械毒理学评估的测试样品。该方法涉及使用气动气溶胶分级机（AAC）或多旋风分离器采样阵列分离雾化玻璃纤维，然后在过滤器基材上收集分离的样品，并测量每种样品纤维的长度分布。选择了具有狭窄空气动力学尺寸范围的玻璃纤维气雾剂，并通过AAC或多旋风采样阵列在两个单独的设置中进行了采样。使用场发射扫描电子显微镜测量纤维的长度和直径。使用AAC将玻璃纤维气雾分为八组，使用多旋风分离器将玻璃纤维气雾分为四组。对于AAC，分离的气溶胶的纤维长度分布的几何标准偏差范围为1.49至1.69，对于多旋风采样阵列，范围为1.6至1.8。虽然用AAC分离玻璃纤维气溶胶可能会产生两个不同长度的纤维组，并且长度分辨率可能是可接受的，但这些分离方案的整体质量通量受到限制。