November 2008

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BFRL Explores New Territory in Nanoparticles Produced In Homes

Ultrafine particles (UFP) produced by automobile exhaust are suspected of causing respiratory and cardiovascular morbidity and even mortality. However, these same particles can be produced by common indoor sources as well. BFRL has conducted a series of experiments on some of the most common sources of nanosized particles: gas and electric stoves and electric toaster ovens. In all cases, these sources produced copious quantities of UFP. Previous studies had been limited to UFP in the size range of 10 nm to 100 nm, but recent improvements in technology have allowed NIST to extend this range down to 2 nm particles. This previously unexplored range of 2 nm to 10 nm in fact contributed more than 90 percent of all the particles produced by the electric and gas stovetop burners/coils. The gas and electric ovens and the toaster produced most of their UFP in the 10 nm to 30 nm range. This is an important result that should affect future studies of human exposure to particulates and associated health effects, particularly since personal exposure to these indoor UFP sources can often exceed exposure to the outdoor UFP. Over 250 experiments have been conducted in BFRL’s threebedroom test house equipped to semicontinuously measure air change rates, environmental conditions, and contaminant concentrations.

The results will be published in an upcoming issue of the leading environmental journal Environmental Science and Technology (“Contribution of Gas and Electric Stoves to Residential Ultrafine Particle Concentrations between 2 nm and 64 nm: Size Distributions and Emission and Coagulation Rates,” Lance Wallace, Fang Wang, Cynthia Howard-Reed, and Andrew Persily). Besides documenting the number concentrations and size distributions of the particles emitted by the three appliances, estimates of their emission rates were developed for use in indoor air quality models. Due to the importance of Brownian motion for these nano-sized particles, the phenomenon of coagulation had to be theoretically explored and matched with the observations. BFRL is continuing to explore the production of UFP by indoor sources. Many common small appliances such as hair dryers, steam irons, and electric power tools include heating elements or motors that may produce UFP. Some of these small appliances are used in close proximity to the user for relatively long times, so that the total exposure could be large even if the total emissions are relatively small.

CONTACT:
Cynthia Howard Reed
301-975-8423

Aerospace Industry Association and Automotive Industry Association Use NIST Tools for Advancing eBusiness Standards Development and Deployment

At the International Conference on Advancing Public- Private Partnerships for E-Business Standards in Geneva, Switzerland (Sept. 18-19, 2008), Mark Palmer of BFRL and Ken Peabody of ANSI presented the joint project to develop and demonstrate a global, federated registry for eBusiness standards and standards projects. This registry is an extension to the NSSN (an ANSI directory for global standards) and enables more effective standards development, coordination, and cross-sector standards collaboration and convergence. At this conference, industry and government representatives confirmed the value of these advancements, and key sectors agreed to use the prototype and participate in the enhancement of this new paradigm for international standards coordination and collaboration. The representatives include those from the Aerospace Industry Association, the Automotive Industry Action Group, DHL shipping company, standards organizations, and software companies.

CONTACT:
Mark Palmer
301-975-5858

 

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