Exposure to ultrafine particles poses a potential health risk to school children. While many studies have focused on measuring ultrafine particle (UFP) concentrations in environments where children are at risk of high exposure, few studies have examined the particle deposition in the respiratory tract of children. This study aims to examine the particle deposition in the respiratory tract of school children in different microenvironments. UFP size distribution data were collected in residential homes, school buses, school classrooms, and from school outdoor air in both rural and urban areas of South Texas. The size distribution data were input to the Multiple Path Particle Dosimetry model to calculate regional and total particle deposition fraction. A 24-hour-school-day exposure was simulated by adding the time children spend in each microenvironment. The maximum pulmonary deposition fraction occurs at a diameter ranging from 18 to 40 nm, depending on condition. Age mostly affected the pulmonary region and the total lung deposition with the highest deposition fraction observed for younger children. In addition, comparison of size-dependent regional deposition and particle concentration establishes an accurate depiction of children's exposure and dose profiles. While children only spend 4% of the day in the home source environment, that environment may account for up to 77% of total daily dose intake. Higher deposition fraction occurs at smaller particle size. Younger children show increased levels of particle deposition than older children. Exposure period does not correlate to daily percentage of dose intake. This research can be used to assess children's accumulative exposure to UFPs.
In this work, the performance of GaN-based MOS-Channel-HEMTs (MOSC-HEMTs) are shown to be greatly improved by a thin ALD-grown AlN interfacial layer inserted between the amorphous Al2O3 gate dielectric and GaN-channel. The single-crystalline AlN interfacial layer effectively blocks oxygen from the GaN surface and avoids the formation of detrimental Ga-O bonds. Frequency-dispersion in C-V characteristics has been effectively suppressed. The maximum drain current and field-effect mobility are boosted from 410 mA/mm and 98 cm(2)/V.s in a conventional Al2O3/GaN MOSC-HEMT to 660 mA/mm and 165 cm(2)/V.s in an Al2O3/AlN/GaN MOSC-HEMT, owing to improved interface quality. The devices also deliver a high ON/OFF current ratio of similar to 10(10), and significantly reduced dynamic on-resistance degradation.
Measurements of peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) were made at a Beijing urban site each August from 2005 to 2009. Over this 5-year period, the average PAN concentration for August in each year increased from 3 (2005) to 11.7 μg/m3 (2007); however, it decreased rapidly in 2008 (4.1 μg/m3). Generally, the variation over the 5 years showed a rise in the first part of the study period, followed by a decline. We considered two categories of local and regional air masses in this study, which revealed that the PAN concentration in Beijing was affected mainly by southeastern air masses. The August PAN variation was influenced predominantly by local air masses in 2005, but by 2009 regional air masses had become more important. This study showed the level and variation of PAN in the month of August in 5 consecutive years for the first time, and proved that control measures are useful in decreasing photochemical pollution; hence, these measures are probably feasible for other megacities too. Furthermore, this method of analyzing regional and local impacts might be useful for other studies as well.
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), a group of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), are caused for concern recently due to their adverse health effects and environmental ubiquity. In this study, atmospheric and soil PBDE levels in Taizhou, one of the largest WEEE dismantling areas in the world, were measured, ranging from 884 to 2791 pg m(-3) with an average of 1968 pg m(-3) for atmosphere and 2.96 to 200 ng g(-1) dry weight (dw) with the mean of 65.2 ng g(-1) dw for farmland soils, respectively. The close connection between soil PBDE accumulation and atmospheric deposition was also revealed by the estimation of the annual PBDE deposition flux (3.1 +/- 0.9 mg m(-2) a(-1)) and the similarity between deposited congener pattern and soil congener profile. Positive matrix factorization (PMF) was conducted to extract possible sources of farmland soil PBDEs and to calculate their contributions. Based on the measured source profiles of PBDE-related activities, five sources were identified representing WEEE dumping, WEEE dismantling, WEEE open burning, residential waste dismantling, and residential waste open burning. WEEE-related recycling activities contributed primary percentage (52%) to farmland soil PBDE concentration, and open burning was an important pathway for PBDEs entering the environment. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), a group of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), are caused for concern recently due to their adverse health effects and environmental ubiquity. In this study, atmospheric and soil PBDE levels in Taizhou, one of the largest WEEE dismantling areas in the world, were measured, ranging from 884 to 2791 pg m− 3 with an average of 1968 pg m− 3 for atmosphere and 2.96 to 200 ng g− 1 dry weight (dw) with the mean of 65.2 ng g− 1 dw for farmland soils, respectively. The close connection between soil PBDE accumulation and atmospheric deposition was also revealed by the estimation of the annual PBDE deposition flux (3.1 ± 0.9 mg m− 2 a− 1) and the similarity between deposited congener pattern and soil congener profile. Positive matrix factorization (PMF) was conducted to extract possible sources of farmland soil PBDEs and to calculate their contributions. Based on the measured source profiles of PBDE-related activities, five sources were identified representing WEEE dumping, WEEE dismantling, WEEE open burning, residential waste dismantling, and residential waste open burning. WEEE-related recycling activities contributed primary percentage (52%) to farmland soil PBDE concentration, and open burning was an important pathway for PBDEs entering the environment.