The Purpose of Aerosol Particle Testing
Jan 27, 2016
Aerosols are found everywhere. Contrary to popular belief, they are not just in your hairspray bottles, or your liquid containers. In fact, science defines an aerosol as a cluster of liquid atoms or solid particles that are suspended in the air. Aerosols are either synthetically made, or naturally found in our environment. When these particles are found in our environment, they are presented in the form of steam and fog. When these are produced synthetically, aerosol particles or clusters present as dust, particulate air pollutants, and smoke. The size of aerosols are significant because of their implications on human, plant, and animal health. It can also be significant for other environmental concerns. Diseases can be spread by aerosol droplets suspended in the air like the flu. Also, very large particles cannot be cleared by our respiratory system, and thus can lead to asthma and other respiratory illnesses. Aerosols can be found in spray cans, in pesticides, in medical treatments, combustion technology, factories, and in many other areas of our life.
The purpose of aerosol particle size testing is an important issue for scientific testing because this is an issue that reaches to aspects of canned aerosol sprays and how they affect human consumption, technological uses of aerosols in industries, the effects of particle sizes on human respiration and other aspects of the environment, and in understanding the chemical stability of particles of various types of aerosols for safety precautions.
In other science laboratories, it is important to understand the size of the particles because very tiny nano sized particles have been known to be able to penetrate the air blood barriers of the lungs. This means that nano particles of various chemical compounds can also reach the brain, heart, bladder, kidneys, and liver via respiration. This has some very significant consequences when working with aerosol technologies. This also makes it even more important to ensure that aerosol particle size testing is done. Aerosol particle testing can help scientists to understand what size of particle human beings can take in without needing respiratory safety gear, or when it is absolutely imperative to have it.
Currently scientific experiments are testing the stability of the particles, in what circumstances they become smaller and smaller, and under what conditions. If occupational settings are settings where there is aerosol instability, leading to deagglomeration of particles, then there are likely to be certain occupational hazards.
In terms of innovation of industries, aerosol particle size measurement can help to progress industries such as the food industry, warehousing, forestry, mining, agriculture, pharmaceutical, nutrition, solar and other energies, automobile industries, and other material processing industries.
In nano particle labs, for instance, scientists work with very small aerosol particles to help innovate and develop biomedical equipment and techniques, electronics, optic electrics, different types of ceramics, paints, sealants, and pharmaceutical applications. End users of these products also benefit from particle size measurement because the end products will likely have varied properties such as glossy surfaces, larger surface areas, and different packaging densities, based on the particle size measurement and production in innovation laboratories.
If aerosol particle size data is insufficient, unmeasured, poorly measured or inaccurate, the end properties of mixtures, chemical combinations, and end products will exhibit very different properties, hence affecting the final product and the suppliers/consumers that the product is being made for. In addition to the above mentioned factors, differences can also be seen in the rheology, polishing capability, film gloss, and surface area of the final end product. Without proper aerosol particle measurement, these factors cannot be controlled for or predicted, in order to make a carefully designed and targeted end product.
In order to produce the best results, aerosol particle size testing and measurement are recommended. There are many different ways and many different machines that can help with this process. Sample handling precautions and rules need to be strict in order to produce the best measurements. Reliable and consistent results of these analyses are critical to achieve stable compounds and a high quality end product. Most innovators and scientists recognize this need and fortunately rapid to use, modern and technological processes are now coming into place to meet these specific needs. This allows for aerosol particle sizing and characterization to be measured at faster speeds and with more accuracy.