Personal exposure to gaseous and particulate phase polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and nanoparticles and lung deposited surface area (LDSA) for soot among Norwegian chimney sweepers

Figures & data

Table 1. Self-reported mean time (SD) spent on different tasks per day in the 2 weeks of sampling.

Period/activity	Number of chimney sweeps (SD)	Time (hr) spent on chimney sweeping (SD)	Number of fire-safety inspections** (SD)	Time (hr) spent on fire-safety inspections (SD)
November 8–11, 2021*	14.3	3.6	9.9	2.7
	(16.8)	(3.4)	(12.9)	(2.9)
March 14–17, 2022*	18.1	5.2	7.4	1.2
	(17.8)	(4.8)	(22.1)	(3.4)

* 15 and 17 chimney sweepers reported their time spent on different activities in November and March, respectively.

** Inspection of fireplaces and soot hatches.

Table 2. TWA (8 hr) and the number of samples collected of the gaseous and particulate PAHs.

	November 2021				March 2022
	Mean*	Min	Max	N	Mean*	Min	Max	N
Total PAHparticle	0.65	0.49	2.50	36	1.09	0.87	1.39	32
Biphenylparticle	0.01	0.00	0.01	36	0.00	0.00	0.36	32
Naphthaleneparticle	0.13	0.00	0.23	36	0.02	0.00	0.41	32
Total PAHgas	0.71	0.52	1.06	9	1.45	1.04	4.47	19
Biphenylgas	0.00	0.00	0.01	9	0.01	0.01	0.02	19
Naphthalenegas	0.07	0.02	0.13	9	0.04	0.00	0.09	19

* Concentrations in µg/m³.

Table 3. TWAs for PNC, LDSA, and particle size across different sampling days.

Week	Date	PNC (particles/cm^3)	Size (nm)	LDSA (µm^2/cm^3)
1	November 8, 2021	4.4 × 10^3	49	10.5
	November 10, 2021	2.0 × 10^3	42	3.5
	November 11, 2021	9.6 × 10^3	46	14.4
	November 12, 2021	4.0 × 10^3	34	6.8
2	March 14, 2022	3.7 × 10^3	52	9.1
	March 15, 2022	7.1 × 10^4	44	54.4
	March 16, 2022	3.6 × 10^4	48	49.4
	March 17, 2022	8.1 × 10^3	50	18.2

Table 4. The arithmetic mean (AM), SD and range of PNCs, size, and LDSA measured during different soot-generating.

Date	Activity	Time (min)	PNC (particles/cm^3)			Size (nm)			LDSA (µm^2/cm^3)
			AM	SD	Min − Max	AM	SD	Min − Max	AM	SD	Min-max
November 8, 2021	Chimney sweeping	25	1.3 × 10^4	1.3 × 10^4	2.3 × 10^3–9.4 × 10^4	42.2	5.4	21.0 − 69.7	26.6	20.2	7.3 − 149.9
November 10, 2021	Chimney sweeping	35	1.4 × 10^4	1.2 × 10^4	0.8 × 10^3–8.7 $\times$10^4	27.8	9.1	10.0 − 56.1	19.6	15.9	1.7 − 108.6
November 11, 2021	Chimney sweeping	40	4.3 × $\mathrm{ }$10^4	1.0 × 10^5	0.5 × 10^3–7.8 $\times$10^5	36.8	32.2	10–300*	42.2	79.2	2.3 − 814.3
	Dismantling of fireplace	50	2.7 × 10^4	1.1 × 10^5	1.0 × 10^3–2.8 × 10^6	38.6	37.0	10–300*	50.8	178.5	4.4 − 4499.1
November 12, 2021	Emptying the vacuum cleaner	10	6.3 × 10^4	2.7 × 10^5	2.0 × 10^3–2.9 × 10^6	29.6	21.2	10–300*	109.7	459.2	14.6 − 4547.0
March 14, 2022	Sweeping and emptying the soot hatch of a pizza oven	45	6.8 × 10^3	1.6 × 10^4	0.2 × 10^3–6.3 × 10^5	56.9	34.4	10–300*	17.0	25.3	3.0 − 922.3
March 15, 2022	Sweeping in a waste sorting facility	160	2.1 × 10^5	8.2 × 10^4	3.1 × 10^3–7.6 × 10^5	14.6	7.8	10.0 − 67.6	141.9	53.1	7.0 − 605.1
March 16, 2022	Sweeping in a waste sorting facility	120	1.0 × 10^5	1.9 × 10^5	2.6 × 10^3–2.9 × 10^6	21.8	16.6	10–300*	131.4	347.8	7.6 − 4548.2
March 17, 2022	Sweeping in a tiled stove and milling	80	3.6 × 10^4	7.9 × 10^4	0.18 × 10^3−1.7 × 10^6	47.5	19.1	10–300*	80.7	162.0	1.1 − 1659.7

* The DiSC mini reads average particle sizes in the range 10–300 nm.

Data availability statement

The data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, T.N.A., upon reasonable request.