A new simple, low-cost approach for generation of the PM10 fraction from soil and related materials: Application to human health risk assessment

A new simple, robust and low-cost wet laboratory method for the generation of the <10 μm (PM10) particle size fraction is reported. A sedimentation method is directly compared with a centrifugation method for generation of the PM10 fraction. Both approaches are based on an integrated form of Stokes’ law. Subsequently the sedimentation method was adopted. The results from the sedimentation method were corroborated using particle size distribution measurements. This approach for the generation of the PM10 fraction was applied to soil and mine waste samples from Mitrovica, Kosovo as part of an investigation in to the human risk assessment from inhalation of the PM10 fraction containing potentially harmful elements (PHEs). The average daily dose for Cd from the inhalation of suspended soil particles was calculated to be 0.021 and 0.010 μg kg−1BW d−1 for a child and an adult, respectively. This corresponded to an inhalation dose of 0.50 and 0.70 μg Cd d−1 for a child (20 kg) and an adult (70 kg), respectively.