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Contribution of indoor-generated particles to residential exposure

Isaxon, Christina LU ; Gudmundsson, Anders LU ; Nordin, Erik LU ; Lönnblad, Leif LU orcid ; Dahl, Andreas LU ; Wieslander, Gunilla LU ; Bohgard, Mats LU and Wierzbicka, Aneta LU orcid (2015) In Atmospheric Environment 106. p.458-466
Abstract
Abstract The majority of airborne particles in residences, when expressed as number concentrations, are generated by the residents themselves, through combustion/thermal related activities. These particles have a considerably smaller diameter than 2.5 μm and, due to the combination of their small size, chemical composition (e.g. soot) and intermittently very high concentrations, should be regarded as having potential to cause adverse health effects. In this study, time resolved airborne particle measurements were conducted for seven consecutive days in 22 randomly selected homes in the urban area of Lund in southern Sweden. The main purpose of the study was to analyze the influence of human activities on the concentration of particles in... (More)
Abstract The majority of airborne particles in residences, when expressed as number concentrations, are generated by the residents themselves, through combustion/thermal related activities. These particles have a considerably smaller diameter than 2.5 μm and, due to the combination of their small size, chemical composition (e.g. soot) and intermittently very high concentrations, should be regarded as having potential to cause adverse health effects. In this study, time resolved airborne particle measurements were conducted for seven consecutive days in 22 randomly selected homes in the urban area of Lund in southern Sweden. The main purpose of the study was to analyze the influence of human activities on the concentration of particles in indoor air. Focus was on number concentrations of particles with diameters <300 nm generated by indoor activities, and how these contribute to the integrated daily residential exposure. Correlations between these particles and soot mass concentration in total dust were also investigated. It was found that candle burning and activities related to cooking (using a frying pan, oven, toaster, and their combinations) were the major particle sources. The frequency of occurrence of a given concentration indoors and outdoors was compared for ultrafine particles. Indoor data was sorted into non-occupancy and occupancy time, and the occupancy time was further divided into non-activity and activity influenced time. It was found that high levels (above 104 cmâ3) indoors mainly occur during active periods of occupancy, while the concentration during non-activity influenced time differs very little from non-occupancy time. Total integrated daily residential exposure of ultrafine particles was calculated for 22 homes, the contribution from known activities was 66%, from unknown activities 20%, and from background/non-activity 14%. The collected data also allowed for estimates of particle source strengths for specific activities, and for some activities it was possible to estimate correlations between the number concentration of ultrafine particles and the mass concentration of soot in total dust in 10 homes. Particle source strengths (for 7 specific activities) ranged from 1.6·1012 to 4.5·1012 minâ1. The correlation between ultrafine particles and mass concentration of soot in total dust varied between 0.37 and 0.85, with an average of 0.56 (Pearson correlation coefficient). This study clearly shows that due to the importance of indoor sources, residential exposure to ultrafine particles cannot be characterized by ambient measurements alone. (Less)
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author
; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Ultrafine particles, Indoor sources, Exposure, Indoor measurements, Soot, Source strength
in
Atmospheric Environment
volume
106
pages
458 - 466
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • wos:000351966200048
  • scopus:84924165042
ISSN
1352-2310
DOI
10.1016/j.atmosenv.2014.07.053
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
423940e8-9f16-4308-bfb1-d7dec3366787 (old id 4679285)
alternative location
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1352231014005834
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 14:15:36
date last changed
2024-04-10 17:53:55
@article{423940e8-9f16-4308-bfb1-d7dec3366787,
  abstract     = {{Abstract The majority of airborne particles in residences, when expressed as number concentrations, are generated by the residents themselves, through combustion/thermal related activities. These particles have a considerably smaller diameter than 2.5 μm and, due to the combination of their small size, chemical composition (e.g. soot) and intermittently very high concentrations, should be regarded as having potential to cause adverse health effects. In this study, time resolved airborne particle measurements were conducted for seven consecutive days in 22 randomly selected homes in the urban area of Lund in southern Sweden. The main purpose of the study was to analyze the influence of human activities on the concentration of particles in indoor air. Focus was on number concentrations of particles with diameters &lt;300 nm generated by indoor activities, and how these contribute to the integrated daily residential exposure. Correlations between these particles and soot mass concentration in total dust were also investigated. It was found that candle burning and activities related to cooking (using a frying pan, oven, toaster, and their combinations) were the major particle sources. The frequency of occurrence of a given concentration indoors and outdoors was compared for ultrafine particles. Indoor data was sorted into non-occupancy and occupancy time, and the occupancy time was further divided into non-activity and activity influenced time. It was found that high levels (above 104 cmâ3) indoors mainly occur during active periods of occupancy, while the concentration during non-activity influenced time differs very little from non-occupancy time. Total integrated daily residential exposure of ultrafine particles was calculated for 22 homes, the contribution from known activities was 66%, from unknown activities 20%, and from background/non-activity 14%. The collected data also allowed for estimates of particle source strengths for specific activities, and for some activities it was possible to estimate correlations between the number concentration of ultrafine particles and the mass concentration of soot in total dust in 10 homes. Particle source strengths (for 7 specific activities) ranged from 1.6·1012 to 4.5·1012 minâ1. The correlation between ultrafine particles and mass concentration of soot in total dust varied between 0.37 and 0.85, with an average of 0.56 (Pearson correlation coefficient). This study clearly shows that due to the importance of indoor sources, residential exposure to ultrafine particles cannot be characterized by ambient measurements alone.}},
  author       = {{Isaxon, Christina and Gudmundsson, Anders and Nordin, Erik and Lönnblad, Leif and Dahl, Andreas and Wieslander, Gunilla and Bohgard, Mats and Wierzbicka, Aneta}},
  issn         = {{1352-2310}},
  keywords     = {{Ultrafine particles; Indoor sources; Exposure; Indoor measurements; Soot; Source strength}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{458--466}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Atmospheric Environment}},
  title        = {{Contribution of indoor-generated particles to residential exposure}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2014.07.053}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.atmosenv.2014.07.053}},
  volume       = {{106}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}