High contribution from outdoor air to personal exposure and potential inhaled dose of PM2.5 for indoor-active university students

Qiaorong Xie; Yuqing Dai; Xianlei Zhu; Fan Hui; Xianqiang Fu; Qiangbin Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.envres.2022.114225

High contribution from outdoor air to personal exposure and potential inhaled dose of PM_2.5 for indoor-active university students

Environ Res. 2022 Dec;215(Pt 1):114225. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2022.114225. Epub 2022 Sep 2.

Authors

Qiaorong Xie¹, Yuqing Dai², Xianlei Zhu³, Fan Hui⁴, Xianqiang Fu⁴, Qiangbin Zhang⁵

Affiliations

¹ College of Chemical Engineering and Environment, China University of Petroleum, Beijing, 102249, China; Institute of Surface-Earth System Science, School of Earth System Science, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China; State Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Physics and Atmospheric Chemistry, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China.
² School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK.
³ College of Chemical Engineering and Environment, China University of Petroleum, Beijing, 102249, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Pollution Control, China University of Petroleum, Beijing, 102249, China. Electronic address: zhuxl@cup.edu.cn.
⁴ College of Chemical Engineering and Environment, China University of Petroleum, Beijing, 102249, China.
⁵ College of Chemical Engineering and Environment, China University of Petroleum, Beijing, 102249, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Pollution Control, China University of Petroleum, Beijing, 102249, China. Electronic address: zhangq@cup.edu.cn.

PMID: 36063909
DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2022.114225

Abstract

People spend most of their time indoors, isolated from the outdoor environment where serious air pollution usually occurs. To what extent outdoor air pollution contributes to their daily personal exposure and inhaled dose? To fill this knowledge gap, an exposure assessment study was conducted for indoor-active university students during a wintertime period of hazy and non-hazy (clear) days in Beijing. Indoor and outdoor fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) samples were collected at six indoor microenvironments, and two outdoor environments representing traffic and ambient exposure in the university, respectively, to estimate the personal exposure of students. The average daily personal exposure and poteantial inhaled dose on hazy days (124.8 ± 72.3 μg m^-3 and 2.74 ± 1.53 mg) were much higher than that on clear days (57.5 ± 31.9 μg m^-3 and 1.26 ± 0.59 mg), indicating a significant influence from the ambient air quality. The indoor PM_2.5 concentrations were significantly and positively correlated with the outdoor ones (r = 0.67-0.96) with an F_INF (infiltration factor) range of 0.44-0.81 during sampling periods. The outdoor-origin air contributed 68%-95% to the total indoor PM_2.5, the average of which was higher during haze events (87%) than clear periods (73%). Correspondingly, outdoor-origin PM_2.5 contributed around 105.4 μg m^-3 and 2.41 mg (85% and 89%) to the daily exposure and inhaled dose of college students on hazy days, respectively, compared to just 39.2 μg m^-3 and 0.95 mg (68% and 75%) on clear days. Our results highlight the significant contribution of outdoor-origin PM_2.5 occurred indoor to both the daily personal exposure and inhaled dose due to air pollution filtration between outdoor and indoor environments. These also suggest a continuous effort not only on ambient air quality improvements, but also on environmental friendly building for public health protection with lower exposure.

Keywords: College students; Infiltration factor; Microenvironments; Outdoor-origin PM(2.5) contribution; PM(2.5) personal exposure.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Air Pollutants* / analysis
Air Pollution, Indoor* / analysis
Environmental Monitoring / methods
Humans
Particle Size
Particulate Matter / analysis
Students
Universities

Substances

Air Pollutants
Particulate Matter