Dust Samples from Dining Locations on Siena Campus

Another location that we were interested to analyze dust was from places where students in campus dines or get food.

Dust Samples from Lonnstrom Dinning Hall

A main food location in campus is Lonnstrom dinning hall. We obtained the dust sample from a side of the Pepsi machine (soda fountain) in the center of the dinning hall. We obtained two dust samples for analysis and as usual we did the analysis using the SEM.

The data we obtained from analysis is shown below;

The section of the dust sample 1 which we analyzed is shown above. The strings that can be seen are from the adhesive in the carbon tape. The particles are the dust that was obtained from the location

This is the image we obtain after 600 seconds of analyzing the sample in the SEM. Different colors represent different elements. This image is the map of elements that were found in dust sample along with the image of the dust sample.

This is the map of the element of the dust sample 1 without the image. We can compare the 2 images above to identify the dust samples from the picture without the image of the dust sample. The yellow dots represents Silicon which shows where the dust can be seen. The other elements such as Calcium which was found to be in other dust samples too, gives us a trace of dust particles

The spectrum shown above is the elemental composition in the dust sample. The peaks represent the amount of substance that was found in the sample. Higher peaks = More material. Hence from the spectrum we can observe a significant amount of Aluminium and Silicon compared to other elements.

Element	AN	series	[wt.%]	[norm. wt.%]	[norm. at.%]	Error in wt.% (1 Sigma)
Sodium	11	K-series	0.26541465	3.867287581	5.300527512	0.045282686
Magnesium	12	K-series	0.047965902	0.698898633	0.906078481	0.028865888
Aluminium	13	K-series	1.151718548	16.78139029	19.59785117	0.083881415
Silicon	14	K-series	1.53860185	22.41856589	25.15202283	0.094718449
Phosphorus	15	K-series	0.403201942	5.874950233	5.976645737	0.042720741
Sulfur	16	K-series	0.507964331	7.40141566	7.273061456	0.045105424
Chlorine	17	K-series	1.254086487	18.27296681	16.24078438	0.069488987
Potassium	19	K-series	0.507541127	7.395249259	5.959944188	0.041929028
Calcium	20	K-series	1.186575075	17.28927565	13.59308425	0.061400767
		Sum:	6.863069912	100	100

The data confirm a higher weight percentage of Silicon and Aluminium (22.4% and 16.8% respectively). We can also see a 17.3% and 18.2% of Calcium and Chlorine respectively. Silicon can be explained in terms of elements found in sand and dirt. Aluminium can be also found in the stage which we place the carbon tape with the dust. Hence there is a possibility that the Aluminium from the stage was detected. Calcium can be accumulated in the dust from dead skin or hair. Chlorine can expected in dust because cleaning supplies contains chlorine and the dust accumulates it from the surface.


The data from the dust sample 2 that was obtained from Lonnstrom is shown below.

Similar to the sample 1 a significant amount of Al, Si, Cl and Ca can be found.

The raw data for the sample 2:

Element	AN	series	[wt.%]	[norm. wt.%]	[norm. at.%]	Error in wt.% (1 Sigma)
Sodium	11	K-series	0.26541465	3.867287581	5.300527512	0.045282686
Magnesium	12	K-series	0.047965902	0.698898633	0.906078481	0.028865888
Aluminium	13	K-series	1.151718548	16.78139029	19.59785117	0.083881415
Silicon	14	K-series	1.53860185	22.41856589	25.15202283	0.094718449
Phosphorus	15	K-series	0.403201942	5.874950233	5.976645737	0.042720741
Sulfur	16	K-series	0.507964331	7.40141566	7.273061456	0.045105424
Chlorine	17	K-series	1.254086487	18.27296681	16.24078438	0.069488987
Potassium	19	K-series	0.507541127	7.395249259	5.959944188	0.041929028
Calcium	20	K-series	1.186575075	17.28927565	13.59308425	0.061400767
		Sum:	6.863069912	100	100

Similar explanation to the sample 1 can be said about the sample 2 because the weight composition is very similar. Hence there is a possibility that we could identify a particular location by analyzing a dust sample, because there are only minor changes between the two different samples.

However it was interesting to find a different new element, Titanium in the map data, however this amount was significantly low to identify it when the data was quantified to get weight percentages.

Dust Samples from Casey's

Different from Lonnstrom but another major food location is Casey's in SSU. This is different because it is also a communal living space for commuters and residents. We obtained two different samples from the top of a Pepsi cooler and carried out the analysis to obtain the following data. Following is a video documentary of Brendan Waffle collecting the dust sample from the top of the cooler in Caseys;

Similar to the samples from Lonnstrom, for each of the samples analyzed, the image of the sample, the map of the elemental composition of the sample, the map of the elemental composition with the image of the sample, the spectrum of the elemental composition and the raw data of elemental composition of the sample are shown bellow respectively.

The data for sample 1 is shown below;

The spectrum shows that there should be a significant amount of Aluminum, Silicon, Phosphorus, Chlorine and Calcium.

The raw data for the sample is shown below;

Element	AN	series	[wt.%]	[norm. wt.%]	[norm. at.%]	Error in wt.% (1 Sigma)
Sodium	11	K-series	1.082004327	6.213813936	8.723103264	0.101684091
Magnesium	12	K-series	0.619227153	3.556143185	4.722054647	0.062878258
Aluminium	13	K-series	1.938429692	11.13215644	13.31557613	0.123738713
Silicon	14	K-series	5.11022473	29.34737399	33.72364288	0.25360306
Phosphorus	15	K-series	0.566071695	3.250878113	3.387303826	0.049625789
Sulfur	16	K-series	0.733820986	4.214241065	4.241524516	0.053673022
Chlorine	17	K-series	2.041309061	11.72297964	10.67176098	0.096662882
Potassium	19	K-series	0.905289094	5.198960714	4.291469755	0.05417544
Calcium	20	K-series	2.050140536	11.77369768	9.481001909	0.086717616
Titanium	22	K-series	0.260271528	1.494706452	1.007509529	0.0337893
Iron	26	K-series	0.96104763	5.519174931	3.189493385	0.051321831
Zinc	30	K-series	1.145049408	6.575873859	3.245559174	0.056099957
		Sum:	17.41288584	100	100

The data shows that there is a significant amount of Silicon, Aluminium, Chlorine and Calcium. The dust samples that were analysed are very similar to each other and most of the times contain very similar elements. This could be a positive result since we are not finding anything different or harmful/toxic. This in general shows that the environment is safe. Few elements that are considered to appear in and out in dust samples are Titanium or Iron.

The data for sample 2 is shown below;

  

The Raw data;

Element	AN	series	[wt.%]	[norm. wt.%]	[norm. at.%]	Error in wt.% (1 Sigma)
Sodium	11	K-series	1.739025904	6.880716516	9.84080113	0.146489647
Magnesium	12	K-series	0.678332656	2.683924777	3.630831801	0.066275733
Aluminium	13	K-series	2.339211143	9.255439329	11.27876949	0.143731846
Silicon	14	K-series	6.573807913	26.01025584	30.45046161	0.318492847
Phosphorus	15	K-series	0.57566584	2.277708137	2.417884554	0.049822968
Sulfur	16	K-series	1.127623333	4.461610649	4.57486514	0.068051371
Chlorine	17	K-series	3.634143603	14.3790336	13.33557664	0.151203807
Potassium	19	K-series	1.263739512	5.000174703	4.204929517	0.065070355
Calcium	20	K-series	3.89668289	15.41780962	12.64876297	0.140717837
Titanium	22	K-series	0.404680958	1.601180838	1.099556775	0.037751015
Iron	26	K-series	1.375004225	5.440410208	3.203046288	0.061677037
Zinc	30	K-series	1.665989179	6.591735772	3.314514091	0.068676933
		Sum:	25.27390716	100	100

The elements that was detected was similar to the sample one, but a little more amount of silicon than sample 1
Nothing harmful was found which is a good news, especially because these samples are taken from food serving locations. The dust samples were again taken from the top of a cooler, which might explain the presence of Zinc and Iron. The presence of titanium can be explained because of the paint. Titanium is used as a white pigment in paint, fiber coating, fabrics, etc. One of the several reasons for using titanium is because it is very resistant to corrosion.

References

https://www.mineralseducationcoalition.org/minerals/titanium