The article reports a physicochemical study of the composition, size, and morphology of solid aerosol particles of industrial origin, specifically particles collected from the air of working zones at a forging press, sandblasting and grinding sections, and a blast furnace. Particles were collected from workplace air by absorption in deionized water. Scanning electron microscopy enabled an analysis of sample morphology and local particle size. The results demonstrate the feasibility of using atomic force microscopy, previously not used to characterize the particle size distribution of solid aerosols. Energy-dispersive spectrometry established the matrix elemental composition of individual particles, including Al, Cr, Cu, Fe, S, Sn, W, Zn, and Zr. The detected solid particles ranged in size from 0.3 to 20 μm, and their composition corresponded to the steels, alloys, and materials being processed and used for treatment. Inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry determined the bulk composition of the aerosol solid particles, which contained Al, B, Ba, Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, P, S, Si, Sr, and Zn. The concentrations of the identified elements in the workplace air varied from 0.26 to 1.1 × 106 ng/L of air. For Ca, Na, P, S, and Si, the concentrations exceeded the maximum permissible concentration by factors of 1.5 to 100.
Tsygankova et al. (Sun,) studied this question.