Determination of the size of airborne flour particles

Abstract
Air sampling was done in a UK bakery and a flour mill with an eight‐stage cascade impactor to determine the size of airborne flour particles. The concentration of captured material was determined by a competitive inhibition radioimmunoassay. Comparison of the different sites revealed that 8.79% and 52.14% of the particles in the bakery dough‐brake and roll‐production areas had a diameter 6.0 μm, respectively, and 19.7% of the particles in the flour mill packing area were of this size. We conclude that in dusty areas up to 20% of the airborne flour particles are of a diameter likely to allow them to be deposited in the bronchial airways and alveoli.