Biosensors for Direct Monitoring and Indoor Air Quality and Exposure Assessment Issues

Abstract

Research on indoor air pollution is motivated by the following three maxims (1) individuals spend up to 95 percent of their time indoors in residences, work place, intransit and in entertainment environments; (2) indoor air pollutant concentrations are frequently higher than corresponding outdoor pollutant concentrations; and (3) if all ambient air pollution standards were attained, health effects associated with air pollution would not be eliminated because exposure to pollutants generated indoors would remain at the same levels. Biosensor monitoring for indoor air pollution research and exposure assessment is inspired by a strong desire for direct exposure monitoring because, presently, the majority of exposure sampling studies combine area monitoring with time budget information to estimate exposure to air pollutants as the initial step to exposure assessment.