Versatile aerosol concentration enrichment system (VACES) for simultaneous in vivo and in vitro evaluation of toxic effects of ultrafine, fine and coarse ambient particles Part I: Development and laboratory characterization

The mixture state of individual aerosol particles collected at altitudes of 1¯5 km on 23 and 25 October 1997, from an aircraft flying over southern Kalimantan during the 1997 Indonesian forest fires, has been examined using the dialyses of water-soluble material with water, and organic material with benzene in conjunction with electron microscopy. Individual aerosol particles in the radius range of 0.1¯2 mu m were mainly present as an internal mixture of water-soluble organic material and inorganic salt (mainly ammonium sulfate). Although material comprised of chain aggregations of electronopaque spherules (elemental carbon) was also found, the proportion of these was small.