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A novel in-situ method to determine the respiratory tract deposition of carbonaceous particles reveals dangers of public commuting in highly polluted megacity

Madueño, Leizel ; Kecorius, Simonas ; Löndahl, Jakob LU orcid ; Schnelle-Kreis, Jürgen ; Wiedensohler, Alfred and Pöhlker, Mira (2022) In Particle and Fibre Toxicology 19(1).
Abstract

Background: Exposure to air pollutants is one of the major environmental health risks faced by populations globally. Information about inhaled particle deposition dose is crucial in establishing the dose–response function for assessing health-related effects due to exposure to air pollution. Objective: This study aims to quantify the respiratory tract deposition (RTD) of equivalent black carbon (BC) particles in healthy young adults during a real-world commuting scenario, analyze factors affecting RTD of BC, and provide key parameters for the assessment of RTD. Methods: A novel in situ method was applied to experimentally determine the RTD of BC particles among subjects in the highly polluted megacity of Metro Manila, Philippines.... (More)

Background: Exposure to air pollutants is one of the major environmental health risks faced by populations globally. Information about inhaled particle deposition dose is crucial in establishing the dose–response function for assessing health-related effects due to exposure to air pollution. Objective: This study aims to quantify the respiratory tract deposition (RTD) of equivalent black carbon (BC) particles in healthy young adults during a real-world commuting scenario, analyze factors affecting RTD of BC, and provide key parameters for the assessment of RTD. Methods: A novel in situ method was applied to experimentally determine the RTD of BC particles among subjects in the highly polluted megacity of Metro Manila, Philippines. Exposure measurements were made for 40 volunteers during public transport and walking. Results: The observed BC exposure concentration was up to 17-times higher than in developed regions. The deposition dose rate (DDR) of BC was up to 3 times higher during commute inside a public transport compared to walking (11.6 versus 4.4 μg hr−1, respectively). This is twice higher than reported in similar studies. The average BC mass deposition fraction (DF) was found to be 43 ± 16%, which can in large be described by individual factors and does not depend on gender. Conclusions: Commuting by open-sided public transport, commonly used in developing regions, poses a significant health risk due to acquiring extremely high doses of carcinogenic traffic-related pollutants. There is an urgent need to drastically update air pollution mitigation strategies for reduction of dangerously high emissions of BC in urban setting in developing regions. The presented mobile measurement set-up to determine respiratory tract deposition dose is a practical and cost-effective tool that can be used to investigate respiratory deposition in challenging environments.

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author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Air pollution, Black carbon, Health effects, Lung deposition, Toxicity, Traffic-related particulates, Transport microenvironment
in
Particle and Fibre Toxicology
volume
19
issue
1
article number
61
publisher
BioMed Central (BMC)
external identifiers
  • pmid:36109745
  • scopus:85137933210
ISSN
1743-8977
DOI
10.1186/s12989-022-00501-x
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
4704a16a-2aa2-4cb8-9491-052b520c1c36
date added to LUP
2022-11-30 12:49:14
date last changed
2024-04-16 14:38:35
@article{4704a16a-2aa2-4cb8-9491-052b520c1c36,
  abstract     = {{<p>Background: Exposure to air pollutants is one of the major environmental health risks faced by populations globally. Information about inhaled particle deposition dose is crucial in establishing the dose–response function for assessing health-related effects due to exposure to air pollution. Objective: This study aims to quantify the respiratory tract deposition (RTD) of equivalent black carbon (BC) particles in healthy young adults during a real-world commuting scenario, analyze factors affecting RTD of BC, and provide key parameters for the assessment of RTD. Methods: A novel in situ method was applied to experimentally determine the RTD of BC particles among subjects in the highly polluted megacity of Metro Manila, Philippines. Exposure measurements were made for 40 volunteers during public transport and walking. Results: The observed BC exposure concentration was up to 17-times higher than in developed regions. The deposition dose rate (DDR) of BC was up to 3 times higher during commute inside a public transport compared to walking (11.6 versus 4.4 μg hr<sup>−1</sup>, respectively). This is twice higher than reported in similar studies. The average BC mass deposition fraction (DF) was found to be 43 ± 16%, which can in large be described by individual factors and does not depend on gender. Conclusions: Commuting by open-sided public transport, commonly used in developing regions, poses a significant health risk due to acquiring extremely high doses of carcinogenic traffic-related pollutants. There is an urgent need to drastically update air pollution mitigation strategies for reduction of dangerously high emissions of BC in urban setting in developing regions. The presented mobile measurement set-up to determine respiratory tract deposition dose is a practical and cost-effective tool that can be used to investigate respiratory deposition in challenging environments.</p>}},
  author       = {{Madueño, Leizel and Kecorius, Simonas and Löndahl, Jakob and Schnelle-Kreis, Jürgen and Wiedensohler, Alfred and Pöhlker, Mira}},
  issn         = {{1743-8977}},
  keywords     = {{Air pollution; Black carbon; Health effects; Lung deposition; Toxicity; Traffic-related particulates; Transport microenvironment}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{BioMed Central (BMC)}},
  series       = {{Particle and Fibre Toxicology}},
  title        = {{A novel in-situ method to determine the respiratory tract deposition of carbonaceous particles reveals dangers of public commuting in highly polluted megacity}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12989-022-00501-x}},
  doi          = {{10.1186/s12989-022-00501-x}},
  volume       = {{19}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}