Deposition modeling of fibrous particles in rats: Comparisons with available experimental data

An early mathematical deposition model of fibrous particles in the rat lung (Asgharian and Yu, 1989) has been revised. A set of expressions for fiber deposition efficiency in the respiratory airways were derived based upon fiber mobility analysis. An empirical equation for combined deposition of impaction and interception of fibers in the nasal region was proposed. These newly derived expressions were employed in the lung deposition model. In the present paper, the revised model was used to calculate total and the regional deposition of a variety of natural and man-made fibers in rats. Extensive comparisons were then made with experimental deposition data available in the literature. A satisfactory agreement was found between the calculated results and the experimental data for both total and the regional deposition fractions. (C) 1997 American Association for Aerosol Research.