Inhalability of large particles into the human nasal passage: In vivo studies instill air

The aspiration of large particles (18–30.5 μm) in the human nose was studied to determine the inhalation efficiency as a function of particle size, and to evaluate the upper size cutoff for inhalable particles in still air. Under these conditions, the ability of a particle to be inhaled is dependent on the inhalation velocity entering the nose and the particle terminal settling velocity. Nasal inhalation of radiolabeled pollen and wood dust aerosols was measured in four subjects at normal resting breathing rates. The efficiency of nasal aspiration was found to decrease as the square of the particle size. The upper size cutoff for inhalability was estimated to be approximately 39 μm in still air.