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Indoor Air

Title:		Ultrafine particles from electric appliances and cooking pans: experiments suggesting desorption/nucleation of sorbed organics as the primary source
Author(s):		Wallace LA; Ott WR; Weschler CJ;
Address:		"Santa Rosa, CA, USA. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Redwood City, CA, USA. Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA. International Centre for Indoor Environment and Energy, Lyngby, Denmark"
Journal Title:		Indoor Air
Year:		2015
Volume:		20141014
Issue:		5
Page Number:		536 - 546
DOI:		10.1111/ina.12163
ISSN/ISBN:		1600-0668 (Electronic) 0905-6947 (Linking)
Abstract:		"Ultrafine particles are observed when metal surfaces, such as heating elements in electric appliances, or even empty cooking pans, are heated. The source of the particles has not been identified. We present evidence that particles >10 nm are not emitted directly from the heating elements or the metal surfaces. Using repeated heating of an electric burner, several types of cooking pans, and a steam iron, the increase in the number of particles (>10 nm) can be reduced to 0. After the devices are exposed to indoor air for several hours or days, subsequent heating results in renewed particle production, suggesting that organic matter has sorbed on their surfaces. Also, after a pan has been heated to the point that no increase in particles is observed, washing with detergent results in copious production of particles the next time the pan is heated. These observations suggest that detergent residue and organics sorbed from indoor air are the sources of the particles. We hypothesize that organic compounds are thermally desorbed from the hot surface as gaseous molecules; as they diffuse from the hot air near the pan into cooler air, selected compounds exceed their saturation concentration and nucleation occurs"
Keywords:		"*Air Pollution, Indoor Cooking Cooking and Eating Utensils/*statistics & numerical data Particulate Matter/*analysis Electric burners Nucleation Semi-volatile organic compounds Steam irons Surface films;"
Notes:		"MedlineWallace, L A Ott, W R Weschler, C J eng England 2014/09/25 Indoor Air. 2015 Oct; 25(5):536-46. doi: 10.1111/ina.12163. Epub 2014 Oct 14"