(in German)

Optical aerosol spectrometers have become popular for time-resolved determination of ex-posure to respirable dust in workplaces and more recently also for indoor aerosol measurements, e.g. in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. These instruments measure the light scattered by aerosol particles as a measure of their size. Thus, in order to determine the mass concentration of respirable dust from the instrument output, assumptions are required regarding particle properties, particularly the refractive index and density. For the determination of corona-relevant aerosols, liquid aerosol particles are of particular importance. During the investigations presented here, aerosol spectrometers from various manufacturers were challenged with different monodisperse and polydisperse, as well as solid and liquid test aerosols in the laboratory and in round robin tests. The measured values were compared with the results of reference methods. It was found that the aerosol spectrometers are generally suitable for the purposes mentioned. However, in order to obtain accurate results, it may be necessary to calibrate the instrument individually for the respective application.

This article is published in the Journal "Gefahrstoffe - Reinhaltung der Luft", Volume 81, Issue 1-2, pp. 42-52.

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