Performance degradation of electret filter media when exposed to toluene in a laboratory setting was investigated using a custom-made exposure apparatus. Three types of electret filter media were exposed to toluene in liquid and gas phases. Experimental data indicated that the penetration percentage of di-octyl-phtalate (COP) aerosols through electret filter media was not influenced by exposure to toluene vapors for periods up to eight hours. The filtration performance for all three types of electret filter media decreased more than 30% when the samples were exposed to controlled amounts of liquid toluene. Pressure drop changes of the filter media prior and after exposure to liquid toluene were statistically negligible. Neither morphological changes nor degradation of the polymer fibers were observed after exposure of the filter media samples to liquid toluene. Thermodynamic simulations were performed to determine the molar flux of liquid and gas through the filter media specimens. Experimental results obtained via capillary gas chromatography were within 6% of the predicted toluene concentration values. The decrease in performance was attributed to changes in the density and spatial distribution of the electret charges on the surface of the polymer fibers.
Links with this icon indicate that you are leaving the CDC website.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cannot attest to the accuracy of a non-federal website.
Linking to a non-federal website does not constitute an endorsement by CDC or any of its employees of the sponsors or the information and products presented on the website.
You will be subject to the destination website's privacy policy when you follow the link.
CDC is not responsible for Section 508 compliance (accessibility) on other federal or private website.
For more information on CDC's web notification policies, see Website Disclaimers.
CDC.gov Privacy Settings
We take your privacy seriously. You can review and change the way we collect information below.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.
Cookies used to make website functionality more relevant to you. These cookies perform functions like remembering presentation options or choices and, in some cases, delivery of web content that based on self-identified area of interests.
Cookies used to track the effectiveness of CDC public health campaigns through clickthrough data.
Cookies used to enable you to share pages and content that you find interesting on CDC.gov through third party social networking and other websites. These cookies may also be used for advertising purposes by these third parties.
Thank you for taking the time to confirm your preferences. If you need to go back and make any changes, you can always do so by going to our Privacy Policy page.