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The primary focus of this study was to compare the efficiency of six filter samplers in the collection of inhalable soluble platinum (Pt) salts at a South African base metal refinery. Inhalation remains the major route of occupational exposure to platinum groups metals (PGMs). South Africa would benefit from the study since it’s amongst the major countries where PGMs are produced and hence, monitoring of worker exposure with the most efficient sampler is of utmost importance. The IOM is currently being used in routine exposure monitoring although no studies have been carried out to compare its performance to that of the other samplers under the actual base metal refinery conditions. Method: The button, closed face cassette (CFC), Gesamtsstaubprobenhome (GSP), (Institute of Medicine) IOM, PAS-6 and seven hole (SH-sampler) samplers were randomly allocated to six different positions in presumably high exposure areas. The samplers were moved around in the subsequent sampling days and the process repeated 3 times. The average dust mass and Pt concentrations were used as a basis of sampler performance and comparisons from which sampler hierarchies were determined. Results: The average relative humidity ranged between 37% and 43% and the average dry bulb temperature of 22.4°C was measured. Comparison of the dust mass concentrations revealed no statistically significant differences amongst the six filter samplers tested. The SH-sampler and CFC however collected the highest and lowest dust mass and Pt concentrations respectively. Discussion: The SH-sampler was found to be a sampler with more reliability than the the IOM for the collection of dust mass and soluble Pt. The IOM collected 98% of the SH-sampler dust mass and Pt concentrations. This was in spite of the larger variations indicated by the highest relative standard deviations and confidence intervals shown by the IOM than the other samplers. The GSP sampler, however, showed better precision than all the other samplers in the collection of platinum. The seven 4 mm orifices of the SH-sampler sampler allow for uniform distribution of sampled particles onto the filter supporting its better precision than the IOM which has only one 4 mm opening. The worst performing sampler was the CFC sampler since it collected the lowest dust mass and Pt concentrations. The CFC and the PAS samplers have downward facing inlets that are affected by gravity especially in lower wind speeds which, therefore, influences their efficiency. The GSP sampler concentrations placed it as 4th and 3rd best in Pt and dust mass hierarchies respectively even though it showed better precision than SHS in the sampling of Pt. The button sampler did not perform as well as would have been expected considering that its many evenly spaced orifices and the stainless steel are meant to reduce sample losses. Conclusion: The sampler hierarchy according to dust mass concentrations was in the following order: SH-sampler, IOM, PAS, GSP, button and CFC. The hierarchy obtained from Pt concentrations gave the order as SH-sampler, IOM, GSP, button, PAS and CFC. Similar studies have to be undertaken in primary and secondary platinum workplaces to validate the study results. Such studies should compare better performing samplers (SHS, IOM, Button and GSP) as well as incorporate particle size determination and distribution in those areas. / MSc (Occupational Hygiene), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

The primary focus of this study was to compare the efficiency of six filter samplers in the collection of inhalable soluble platinum (Pt) salts at a South African base metal refinery. Inhalation remains the major route of occupational exposure to platinum groups metals (PGMs). South Africa would benefit from the study since it’s amongst the major countries where PGMs are produced and hence, monitoring of worker exposure with the most efficient sampler is of utmost importance. The IOM is currently being used in routine exposure monitoring although no studies have been carried out to compare its performance to that of the other samplers under the actual base metal refinery conditions. Method: The button, closed face cassette (CFC), Gesamtsstaubprobenhome (GSP), (Institute of Medicine) IOM, PAS-6 and seven hole (SH-sampler) samplers were randomly allocated to six different positions in presumably high exposure areas. The samplers were moved around in the subsequent sampling days and the process repeated 3 times. The average dust mass and Pt concentrations were used as a basis of sampler performance and comparisons from which sampler hierarchies were determined. Results: The average relative humidity ranged between 37% and 43% and the average dry bulb temperature of 22.4°C was measured. Comparison of the dust mass concentrations revealed no statistically significant differences amongst the six filter samplers tested. The SH-sampler and CFC however collected the highest and lowest dust mass and Pt concentrations respectively. Discussion: The SH-sampler was found to be a sampler with more reliability than the the IOM for the collection of dust mass and soluble Pt. The IOM collected 98% of the SH-sampler dust mass and Pt concentrations. This was in spite of the larger variations indicated by the highest relative standard deviations and confidence intervals shown by the IOM than the other samplers. The GSP sampler, however, showed better precision than all the other samplers in the collection of platinum. The seven 4 mm orifices of the SH-sampler sampler allow for uniform distribution of sampled particles onto the filter supporting its better precision than the IOM which has only one 4 mm opening. The worst performing sampler was the CFC sampler since it collected the lowest dust mass and Pt concentrations. The CFC and the PAS samplers have downward facing inlets that are affected by gravity especially in lower wind speeds which, therefore, influences their efficiency. The GSP sampler concentrations placed it as 4th and 3rd best in Pt and dust mass hierarchies respectively even though it showed better precision than SHS in the sampling of Pt. The button sampler did not perform as well as would have been expected considering that its many evenly spaced orifices and the stainless steel are meant to reduce sample losses. Conclusion: The sampler hierarchy according to dust mass concentrations was in the following order: SH-sampler, IOM, PAS, GSP, button and CFC. The hierarchy obtained from Pt concentrations gave the order as SH-sampler, IOM, GSP, button, PAS and CFC. Similar studies have to be undertaken in primary and secondary platinum workplaces to validate the study results. Such studies should compare better performing samplers (SHS, IOM, Button and GSP) as well as incorporate particle size determination and distribution in those areas. / MSc (Occupational Hygiene), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Workers in the agricultural industry exhibit higher rates of respiratory diseases than workers who are not employed in agriculture. Farm workers may be chronically exposed to organic dust, which is composed of molds, fungi, pesticides, herbicides, animal-derived particles, feed and bedding particles, and endotoxin. Exposure to organic dust has been linked to the development of various respiratory diseases. Research evidence has shown that variability in exposure to inhalable dust is present, and no studies have assessed variability in exposures to inhalable dust specifically among dairy parlor workers. A field-based study was conducted to assess exposures to inhalable dust exposure among individuals working as milkers or pushers on dairy farms in the Midwestern United States. A total of 62 dairy parlor workers participated, and 18 of these workers agreed to participate in repeat measurements and were sampled for two work shifts. Two, bilateral personal breathing zone samples were collected continuously from each worker during one work shift using inhalable samplers, amounting to 160 inhalable dust concentration measurements. The filters were weighed, and the TWA of inhalable airborne dust exposure was calculated for each subject and reported in mg/m3. Statistical analyses were used to examine exposure variability. The results of the statistical analyses did not indicate any statistically significant differences in the means of exposure to inhalable dust between paired sampler groups, with p-values of 0.793, 0.617, and 0.619. An ANOVA analysis of within-worker variance found no statistically significant differences, with p-values of 0.702 and 0.744 for sampler location and sampling day, respectively. Results of the simple linear regression analyses suggested that temperature and humidity levels contribute to less than ten percent of the variability in inhalable dust concentrations. Analyses of the study indicate that exposure to inhalable agricultural dust does not vary significantly (p-value of 0.05 or less) between the means of right-side and left-side collected exposures, as well as from day-to-day, among dairy parlor workers. The geometric mean of 0.54 mg/m3 (GSD 2.5 mg/m3) of the inhalable dust concentrations from this study align with geometric means found in previous studies of inhalable dust concentrations among dairy farm workers. These results support the hypothesis that using a sample of the dairy parlor worker population can provide an accurate estimate of exposure to inhalable agricultural dust among the general dairy farm worker population.

In asthma therapy, the use of theophylline to prevent bronchial spasm and glucocorticoids to decrease inflammation is widely indicated. Apart from the acute asthma attack oral theophylline is treated for chronic therapy in order to minimize inflammation and to enhance the efficiency of corticosteroids and recover steroids’ anti-inflammatory actions in COPD treatment. The preferred application route for respiratory disease treatment is by inhalation, such as dry powder inhalers (DPI) being the delivery systems of first choice. As shown recently, there is an advantageous effect if the drugs are given simultaneously which is caused by a synergistic effect at the same target cell in the lung epithelia. Therefore, it seems rational to combine both substances in one particle. This type of particle has the advantage over a combination product containing both drugs in a physical mixture which occurs rather randomly deposition leading to API segregation and non-dose-uniformity. Dry powder inhalers (DPIs) is a type of therapeutic pharmaceutical formulations usually present in the solid form. Due to the nature of the solid-state, an understanding of chemical and physical properties must be established for acquiring optimum performance of the active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). In recent year, generation of DPIs is a destructive procedure to meet the micron size. Such processes are inefficient and difficult to control. Moreover, according to current researches on combination APIs formulation, this type of DPIs performed a greater variability in does delivery of each active, leading to poor bioavailability and limit clinical efficient. This result suggest that combination formulations require advanced quality and functionality of particles with suitable physicochemical properties. Hence, in order to production of binary and combination DPIs products, the aim of this study was to develop the spray drying and ultrasonic process for engineering of combination drug particles that will be delivered more efficiently and independently of dose variations to the lung. Microparticles were produced by spray drying or/and ultrasonic technique. The processing parameters and addition of excipients (polymers) were optimized using a full factorial design such that microparticles were produced in a narrow size range suitable for inhalation. Employing excipients resulted in high saturation environment leading to minimized sphere particles when compared to conventional solvent. Solid state characterization of microparticles using powder x-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry indicated that the particles contained crystalline but no cocrystal. The combination particles comparable to or better than micronized drug when formulated as a powder blended with lactose. It was concluded that the use of HPMC enhanced crystallinity suitable for inhalation; and combination particles improved uniform distribution on the stage of NGI.

In asthma therapy, the use of theophylline to prevent bronchial spasm and glucocorticoids to decrease inflammation is widely indicated. Apart from the acute asthma attack oral theophylline is treated for chronic therapy in order to minimize inflammation and to enhance the efficiency of corticosteroids and recover steroids’ anti-inflammatory actions in COPD treatment. The preferred application route for respiratory disease treatment is by inhalation, such as dry powder inhalers (DPI) being the delivery systems of first choice. As shown recently, there is an advantageous effect if the drugs are given simultaneously which is caused by a synergistic effect at the same target cell in the lung epithelia. Therefore, it seems rational to combine both substances in one particle. This type of particle has the advantage over a combination product containing both drugs in a physical mixture which occurs rather randomly deposition leading to API segregation and non-dose-uniformity. Dry powder inhalers (DPIs) is a type of therapeutic pharmaceutical formulations usually present in the solid form. Due to the nature of the solid-state, an understanding of chemical and physical properties must be established for acquiring optimum performance of the active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). In recent year, generation of DPIs is a destructive procedure to meet the micron size. Such processes are inefficient and difficult to control. Moreover, according to current researches on combination APIs formulation, this type of DPIs performed a greater variability in does delivery of each active, leading to poor bioavailability and limit clinical efficient. This result suggest that combination formulations require advanced quality and functionality of particles with suitable physicochemical properties. Hence, in order to production of binary and combination DPIs products, the aim of this study was to develop the spray drying and ultrasonic process for engineering of combination drug particles that will be delivered more efficiently and independently of dose variations to the lung. Microparticles were produced by spray drying or/and ultrasonic technique. The processing parameters and addition of excipients (polymers) were optimized using a full factorial design such that microparticles were produced in a narrow size range suitable for inhalation. Employing excipients resulted in high saturation environment leading to minimized sphere particles when compared to conventional solvent. Solid state characterization of microparticles using powder x-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry indicated that the particles contained crystalline but no cocrystal. The combination particles comparable to or better than micronized drug when formulated as a powder blended with lactose. It was concluded that the use of HPMC enhanced crystallinity suitable for inhalation; and combination particles improved uniform distribution on the stage of NGI.

Os níveis de poluição do ar, tanto mundialmente, como no Brasil, principalmente em grandes metrópoles como São Paulo, dentre outras capitais e cidades brasileiras são altos e acima do que se é esperado para uma boa qualidade do ar. Uma das cidades brasileiras que ficou conhecida nacionalmente e até mundialmente pelos altos níveis de Poluentes foi Cubatão. Localizada no estado de São Paulo, a 57 km da capital do estado, Cubatão ainda tem altos níveis de Poluentes, entre eles o Material Particulado, o qual é um dos mais presentes. Dentre as classificações do material particulado estão as partículas inaláveis (MP10) e partículas inaláveis finas (MP2,5), estes são assim classificados de acordo com seus diâmetros aerodinâmicos. Tendo em vista os fatos citados acima, este trabalho propõe caracterizar as propriedades ópticas das partículas inaláveis na cidade de Cubatão - SP. Para tal foram utilizados dados de concentração das partículas inaláveis da Companhia Ambiental do Estado de São Paulo - CETESB e as informações a respeito de perfil espacial foram observadas pela técnica de sensoriamento remoto - Light Detection and Ranging - LIDAR por meio de campanhas realizadas em agosto de 2016. Também foram analisados dados de Aerosol Optical Depth - AOD extraídos da plataforma - Goddard Interactive Online Visualization And Analysis Infrastructure - GIOVANNI, a qual contém informações de satélites, que foram usadas para indicar o tamanho das partículas detectadas na região de Cubatão. Do mesmo modo verificou-se os dados do Expoente de Ångström que são distribuídos pela plataforma GIOVANNI. / The levels of air pollution, both globally and in Brazil, especially in large metropolises such as São Paulo, among other Brazilian cities and capitals are high and above what is expected for good air quality. One of the Brazilian cities that was known nationally and even worldwide by the high levels of Pollutants was Cubatão. This city is located in the state of São Paulo, 57 km from the state capital. Cubatão still has high levels of Pollutants, among them the Particulate Material, which is one of the most present. Among the classifications of the particulate material are inhalable particles (PM10) and fine inhalable particles (PM2.5), these are thus classified according to their aerodynamic diameters. In view of the facts mentioned above, this paper proposes to characterize the optical properties of inhalable particles in the city of Cubatão - SP. For this purpose, the inhalable particulate concentration data of the Environmental Company of the State of São Paulo - CETESB were used and the information regarding the spatial profile was observed by the remote sensing technique - Light Detection and Ranging - LIDAR through campaigns carried out in August, Aerosol Optical Depth - AOD data from the Goddard Interactive Online Visualization And Analysis Infrastructure (GIOVANNI) platform, which contains information from satellites, were used to indicate the size of the particles detected in the Cubatão region. In the same way the data of the Ångström exponent, distributed by GIOVANNI platform was verified.

Indoor air contaminants such as dust and gases are present in concentrations that may be hazardous to worker health in poultry production. Poultry dust may contain inflammatory agents (e.g., endotoxin) and inhalation exposure has been associated with pulmonary symptoms. The current control practice to reduce worker exposure to poultry dust is the use of respiratory protection (e.g., filtering face-piece respirators). Limited research has been conducted to evaluate engineering controls to reduce dust concentrations in broiler chicken production. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of a water sprinkling system to reduce inhalable dust and ammonia concentrations in a broiler chicken house. Inhalable dust and ammonia concentrations were measured daily for the production cycle of a flock of broiler chickens (63 days). Inhalable dust was measured gravimetrically using an inhalable sampler and ammonia was measured by a direct reading sensor. Sampling was performed on a stationary mannequin inside two broiler chicken houses. One house used a sprinkler cooling system to deliver a water mist throughout the house and the second house was an untreated control. The sprinkler system activated 5 days after chicken placement and continued through day 63 of the broiler chicken production cycle. The following sprinkler activation program was used each hour from 6am to 10pm: days 5 – 9 five seconds, days 10 – 14 ten seconds, and days 15-63 for fifteen seconds. Geometric mean (GM) inhalable dust concentrations collected in the treatment house (5.2 mg/m3) were lower than those found in the control house (6.0 mg/m3). The GM ammonia concentration within the treatment house was higher at 10.6 ppm (GSD: 1.80), compared to the control house (GM 9.51 ppm; GSD: 1.77). However, the observed differences were not statistically significant (p = 0.33 and p = 0.34, respectively). Concentrations of inhalable dust were reduced by 11β when using the water sprinkling system, however the reduction was not statistically significant. The observed reduction in dust concentration was not sufficient to eliminate the need for respiratory protection.

Occupational exposure limits are generally decreasing and traditional samplers used for quantifying occupational exposures have numerous limitations: cost, disposability, detection of low concentrations, and some even fail to match international inhalable sampling conventions. A low cost, high-flow (10 L min-1) inhalable prototype sampler was developed from the 37-mm cassette and tested in previous studies. These studies called for additional field testing as an area and personal sampler. The sampler was paired with the IOM (2 L min-1), a traditional inhalable air sampler, and deployed in metal working facilities. The samplers were compared to determine whether the prototype matched the IOM and whether the new sampler could improve the sensitivity for detecting lower concentrations of metals. The following processes were sampled: welding, grinding, soldering, pouring, sawing, tending and shooting guns. A total of 21 out of 28 paired samples had detectable metals out of 15 possible metals. There were seven out of eight personal samples and 14 out of 20 area samples with detectable metal concentrations. The average sample time was seven hours, but ranged from 4.2 – 8.3 hours. The most common metals that were detected on 10 or more samples were iron, manganese, zinc, copper, and lead. Metal concentrations collected by the two samplers were not statistically different for the aggregate metal concentrations collected (p = 0.67), metals collected by sample type, personal or area (p = 0.52) or by particle “sizes,” small or large (p = 0.40), collected from the processes. While the samplers were not statistically different, linear regression equations to assess the sampler relationships showed that there were significant differences between the two samplers. Over the total metal concentrations collected, the prototype collected about 71% of what the IOM collected. By sample type, the prototype performed better during area sampling as opposed to personal sampling and by particle size, the prototype performed better in the collection of smaller, heat generated particles, as opposed to larger, mechanically generated particles. Though minor differences were found between concentrations detected on the prototype and IOM, it was determined that in general, these differences were negligible in their interpretation and comparison to occupational exposure limits. Plots also indicated that the prototype sampler performs well at sampling low concentrations of metals, however, only a small amount of metals were detected on the prototype that were not found on the IOM, therefore, the improvement of sensitivity was not assessed. High-flow sampling was hindered by the ability of air sampling pumps to maintain the required operation flow rate of 10 L min-1 for the duration of a work shift. Additional field studies are needed to determine whether the sensitivity for detecting lower concentrations of metals can be improved.

International standards establish criteria for size-selective aerosol sampling for industrial hygiene. Commercially available aerosol samplers are designed to conform to these criteria. This study uses semi-monodispersed aerosols generated in a vertically aligned test chamber to compare the performance of three commercially available respirable dust samplers, one of which can, in addition, simultaneously sample for thoracic and inhalable dust fractions. Comparison methods are used to calculate a theoretical fractional value based on the appropriate sampling conventions of the total dust concentration and size distribution of test materials. Performance of actual samplers can be conducted by comparing observed results to the theoretical value. Results show the design of the test chamber and use of fused aluminum oxide is appropriate to conduct simplified performance verification tests for inhalable and respirable dust samplers. This study showed the TSI RespiCon followed the inhalable and respirable conventions closely, but results for the thoracic fraction required the use of a correction factor. The SKC aluminum cyclone tended to undersample the respirable fraction, while the BGI CAS4 cyclone and the TSI RespiCon appear to most closely follow the convention. Improved selection of test material and characterization of particle sizes are recommended to further develop this method of performance verification.