Ultrasonic humidifier aerosols:Observed high heavy metal enrichment and a new emission control method  

作　　者：Tao Zhang Xiaohui Lu Ruoyu Zhang Xinghua Jiang Shanye Yang Xiewen Ma Qianqian Gao Xiaofei Wang 

机构地区：[1]Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention,Department of Environmental Science and Engineering,Fudan University,Shanghai 200433,China [2]Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security,Shanghai 200092,China

出　　处：《Journal of Environmental Sciences》2025年第2期298-305,共8页环境科学学报(英文版)

基　　金：supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos.42077193 and 21976034);the National Key R&D Program (Nos.2022YFC3702600 and 2022YFC3702601);the Shanghai Natural Science Foundation (23ZR1479700).

摘　　要：Ultrasonic humidifiers are commonly used in households to maintain indoor humidity and generate a large number of droplets or spray aerosols.However,there have been various health concerns associated with humidifier use,largely due to aerosols generated during operation.Here,we investigated the size distribution,chemical composition,and charged fraction of aerosol particles emitted from commercial ultrasonic humidifiers.Heavy metals in water used for humidifiers were found to be highly enriched in the ultrasonic humidifier aerosols(UHA),with the enrichment factors ranging from 102 to 107.This enrichment may pose health concerns for the building occupants,as UHA concentrations of up to 106 particles/cm^(3) or 3 mg/m^(3) were observed.Furthermore,approximately 90%of UHA were observed to be electrically charged,for the first time according to our knowledge.Based on this discovery,we proposed and tested a newmethod to remove UHA by using a simple electrical field.The designed electrical field in this work can efficiently remove 81.4%of UHA.Therefore,applying this electrical field could be an effective method to significantly reduce the health risks by UHA.

关 键 词：Ultrasonic humidifier aerosols Water-to-Air transfer Heavy metal Enrichment factor Electrical field 

分 类 号：X513[环境科学与工程—环境工程]