Continuous Monitoring of Particle Emissions during Showering

Abstract

Particle formation from showering may be attributed to dissolved mineral aerosols remaining after evaporation of micron-sized satellite droplets produced by the shower-head or from splashing of larger shower water droplets on surfaces. Duplicate continuous particle monitors measured particle size distributions in a ventilated residential bathroom under various showering conditions, using a full-size mannequin in the shower to simulate splashing effects during showering. Particle mass concentrations were estimated from measured shower particle number densities and used to develop emission factors for inhalable particles. Emission source strengths of 2.7–41.3 μg/m³/min were estimated under the various test conditions using residential tap water in Columbus, OH. Calculated fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) concentrations in the bathroom reached several hundred micrograms per cubic meter; calculated coarse particulate matter (PM₁₀) levels approached 1000 μg/m³. Rates of particle formation tended to be highest for coarse shower spray settings with direct impact on the mannequin. No consistent effects of water temperature, water pressure, or spray setting on overall emission rates were apparent, although water temperature and spray setting did have an effect when varied within a single shower sampling run. Salt solutions were injected into the source water during some tests to assess the effects of total dissolved solids on particle emission rates. Injection of salts was shown to increase the PM_2.5 particle formation rate by approximately one third, on average, for a doubling in tap water-dissolved solids content; PM₁₀ source strengths approximately doubled under these conditions, because very few particles >10 μm were formed.