Personal exposure to airborne particulate matter due to residential dryer lint cleaning

Publication date: March 2016
Source:Building and Environment, Volume 98
Author(s): Kai-Chung Cheng, Daisy Zheng, Afua O. Tetteh, Hye-Kyung Park, Kari C. Nadeau, Lynn M. Hildemann
Exposure to airborne particles during and after cleaning dryer lint was examined via 30 experiments involving 4 dryers in a laundry room of a Northern California home. Gravimetric and real-time air samplers measured mass and size-resolved number concentrations in close proximity to the cleaning activity. The size distributions varied greatly between loads of clothing, with particle diameters > 10 μm contributing the bulk of the airborne lint dust volume. Average 5-min exposures to PM10 varied from < 10 to > 300 μg/m³. Cumulative frequency distributions of 1-min-averaged PM10 measurements were used to characterize the probabilities of different short-term exposure levels during and at different elapsed times after lint cleaning.

Graphical abstract