Effect of energy renovation and occupants' activities on airborne particle concentrations in Swedish rental apartments
Omelekhina, Yuliya LU ; Nordquist, Birgitta LU ; Alce, Günter LU ; Caltenco, Hector LU
; Wallenten, Petter
LU
; Borell, Jonas
LU
and Wierzbicka, Aneta
LU
(2021)
In Science of the Total Environment
806.
- Abstract
Exposure to airborne particles causes detrimental health effects, hence their assessment in indoor environments, where people spend most of the time, is important. The influence of energy renovation and occupants' activities on airborne particle concentrations was assessed in seven occupied Swedish residences. Ultrafine particle (UFP, <100 nm) number concentrations, PM2.5 (<2.5 μm) and black carbon (BC, <900 nm) mass concentrations were simultaneously measured inside and outside before, after renovation, and during follow-up. The average indoor UFP number concentrations increased from 6200 (±4070) cm-3 before renovation to 12,700 (±6040) cm-3 during the follow up, as the number of indoor activities... (More)
Exposure to airborne particles causes detrimental health effects, hence their assessment in indoor environments, where people spend most of the time, is important. The influence of energy renovation and occupants' activities on airborne particle concentrations was assessed in seven occupied Swedish residences. Ultrafine particle (UFP, <100 nm) number concentrations, PM2.5 (<2.5 μm) and black carbon (BC, <900 nm) mass concentrations were simultaneously measured inside and outside before, after renovation, and during follow-up. The average indoor UFP number concentrations increased from 6200 (±4070) cm-3 before renovation to 12,700 (±6040) cm-3 during the follow up, as the number of indoor activities doubled. Indoor UFP number concentrations depended mainly on frequency and type of occupants' activities in studied residences (e.g., cooking, candle burning). The average indoor PM2.5 concentration decreased from 8.6 (±5.8) μg m-3 before renovation to 2.5 (±1.3) μg m-3 during follow up, as the activities that generated PM2.5 decreased, and infiltration of outdoor particles could have been decreased due to renovation measures. However, the indication of infiltration decrease during the follow up, assessed on the basis of indoor to outdoor ratios during non-activity times (with no influence of occupants' activities), was not observed after the renovation and should be treated with caution. In this study indoor PM2.5 and BC were influenced by activities and outdoor concentrations. Reduction of exposure to indoor UFP, might be obtained by optimization of kitchen exhaust flows. An improved design of supply air inlets in mechanical exhaust ventilation systems may reduce PM2.5 infiltration. Occupants' logbook records, needed for identification of sources contributing to particle exposure, proved useful but not always accurate compared to technical measurements of activities and UFP concentrations. Development of simple and reliable activity detection systems is needed to complement logbooks and allow accurate assessment of source contribution to particle exposure in homes and associated health effects.
(Less)
- author
- Omelekhina, Yuliya
LU
; Nordquist, Birgitta
LU
; Alce, Günter
LU
; Caltenco, Hector
LU
; Wallenten, Petter
LU
; Borell, Jonas
LU
and Wierzbicka, Aneta
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2021-08
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Activity detection system (ADS), Aerosol, Indoor sources, Indoor-to-outdoor (I/O) ratio, Renovation, Ultrafine particles (UFP)
- in
- Science of the Total Environment
- volume
- 806
- article number
- 149995
- publisher
- Elsevier
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85116050676
- pmid:34844298
- ISSN
- 0048-9697
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149995
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Authors
- id
- be956336-9f82-4f04-bf6e-9a1a91e06120
- date added to LUP
- 2021-10-19 10:40:41
- date last changed
- 2024-06-16 21:06:16
@article{be956336-9f82-4f04-bf6e-9a1a91e06120,
abstract = {{<p>Exposure to airborne particles causes detrimental health effects, hence their assessment in indoor environments, where people spend most of the time, is important. The influence of energy renovation and occupants' activities on airborne particle concentrations was assessed in seven occupied Swedish residences. Ultrafine particle (UFP, <100 nm) number concentrations, PM2.5 (<2.5 μm) and black carbon (BC, <900 nm) mass concentrations were simultaneously measured inside and outside before, after renovation, and during follow-up. The average indoor UFP number concentrations increased from 6200 (±4070) cm<sup>-3</sup> before renovation to 12,700 (±6040) cm<sup>-3</sup> during the follow up, as the number of indoor activities doubled. Indoor UFP number concentrations depended mainly on frequency and type of occupants' activities in studied residences (e.g., cooking, candle burning). The average indoor PM2.5 concentration decreased from 8.6 (±5.8) μg m<sup>-3</sup> before renovation to 2.5 (±1.3) μg m<sup>-3</sup> during follow up, as the activities that generated PM2.5 decreased, and infiltration of outdoor particles could have been decreased due to renovation measures. However, the indication of infiltration decrease during the follow up, assessed on the basis of indoor to outdoor ratios during non-activity times (with no influence of occupants' activities), was not observed after the renovation and should be treated with caution. In this study indoor PM2.5 and BC were influenced by activities and outdoor concentrations. Reduction of exposure to indoor UFP, might be obtained by optimization of kitchen exhaust flows. An improved design of supply air inlets in mechanical exhaust ventilation systems may reduce PM2.5 infiltration. Occupants' logbook records, needed for identification of sources contributing to particle exposure, proved useful but not always accurate compared to technical measurements of activities and UFP concentrations. Development of simple and reliable activity detection systems is needed to complement logbooks and allow accurate assessment of source contribution to particle exposure in homes and associated health effects.</p>}},
author = {{Omelekhina, Yuliya and Nordquist, Birgitta and Alce, Günter and Caltenco, Hector and Wallenten, Petter and Borell, Jonas and Wierzbicka, Aneta}},
issn = {{0048-9697}},
keywords = {{Activity detection system (ADS); Aerosol; Indoor sources; Indoor-to-outdoor (I/O) ratio; Renovation; Ultrafine particles (UFP)}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{Elsevier}},
series = {{Science of the Total Environment}},
title = {{Effect of energy renovation and occupants' activities on airborne particle concentrations in Swedish rental apartments}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149995}},
doi = {{10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149995}},
volume = {{806}},
year = {{2021}},
}