Fine particle exposure of prescribed fire workers in the Southeastern United States and a comparison of several particulate matter sampling methods

Abstract

Personal exposure concentrations of particles with aerodynamic diameter <2.5 ?m (PM2.5) of prescribed fire workers were measured at two locations in the southeastern United States. Non-impacted ambient concentrations were measured as an estimate of background concentrations during burn activities. Four sampling method comparison studies were designed and performed to compare the FRM with 1) other gravimetric PM2.5 sampling methods in ambient air, 2) optical PM2.5 sampling methods in indoor air, 3) an optical sampling method (Grimm) for particles with aerodynamic diameter <10 ?m (PM10) in ambient air, and 4) a gravimetric PM2.5 sampling method downwind of prescribed fires. The gravimetric PM2.5 sampling methods agreed well in ambient air (R 2 >0.96 for all) except for the MiniVol, the optical PM2.5 sampling methods agree less well in indoor air,(R 2 >0.592), the Grimm optical PM10 method agrees well in ambient air(R 2 >0.944 for all), and the personal method agrees well (n=9, R 2 =0.994) downwind of prescribed fires.