A DEVICE FOR CREATING DRY AEROSOLS FOR EXPERIMENTAL INFECTIVITY STUDIES
Abstract
Equipment is needed that will permit laboratory studies with experimental animals using aerosols of dusts, spores, microorganisms, or toxins. This report describes a machine capable of producing dynamic clouds and suitable for attachment to animal exposure boxes. A dry preparation of Serratia marcescens with 68.0% of the particles less than 5 microns in diameter was used for calibration. Test material compacted in a small cartridge was forced by plunger action onto the serrated edge of a metering wheel, which then presented the powder to a dry air jet, creating a cloud. Samples were collected by impinging the particles in a liquid. Viability was determined by spreading dilutions of that liquid on agar plates. The distribution of particle diameters was determined by measuring at least 500 particles collected on microscope slides. Plunger speed was found to have a highly significant effect on particle concentration in the aerosol at the slow speed of the metering wheel. Approximately 97% of the particles generated in the experimental aerosols were less than 5 microns in diameter.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 1965
- Accession Number
- AD0459384
Entities
People
- Gordon L. Jessup Jr.
- James M. Bebee
- William G. Roessler
- William S. Woodrow
Organizations
- United States Army Biological Warfare Laboratories