Commuters' Personal Exposure Assessment and Evaluation of Inhaled Dose to Different Atmospheric Pollutants.

Francesca Borghi,Andrea Cattaneo,Giacomo Fanti,Davide Campagnolo,Sabrina Rovelli,Marta Keller,Andrea Spinazzè,Domenico Maria Cavallo

doi:10.3390/ijerph17103357

Francesca Borghi, Andrea Cattaneo + Show 6 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17103357

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Abstract

Several studies evaluating exposure to pollutants in microenvironments (MEs) are available in the scientific literature, but studies that evaluate the inhaled doses of pollutants are few in number. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the exposure of commuters to different pollutants (i.e., nitrogen dioxide [NO2] and fractionated particulate matter [PM], including ultrafine particles [UFPs]) using miniaturized and portable real-time monitoring instruments in selected MEs; the inhaled doses of these pollutants were estimated for each of these MEs. Measurements were performed along a typical commute, considering different traffic and nontraffic MEs. Experimental data were collected over four working weeks in two different seasons (winter and summer). Different portable and miniaturized instruments were used to evaluate PM and NO2 exposure. Furthermore, physiological parameters were evaluated using a heart rate monitor. The principal results show that higher exposure levels were measured in Underground (for all PM fractions and NO2) and in Car (UFP), while lower levels were measured in Car (PM and NO2) and in Train (UFP). In contrast, higher values of the inhaled cumulative dose were estimated in environments defined as Other, followed by Walking (ht), while lower values were observed in Walking (lt) and in Car.

Highlights

It is well known that people are continuously exposed to different environmental factors, such as air pollutants
To simulate a typical home-to-work commuter route, a fixed route was defined a priori from a provincial city (‘home’ [Villa Guardia], 45◦ 470 N 9◦ 010 E) to an office located in Milan (‘Workplace’, 45◦ 270 N 9◦ 110 E), the largest city in Lombardy, Italy (Figure S1)
Details regarding the MEs considered in this study are presented in Table S1, but in general, the MEs visited by the commuter were as follows: Walking, Walking, Bike, Car, Underground, Train, Indoor, and Other MEs

Summary

Introduction

It is well known that people are continuously exposed to different environmental factors, such as air pollutants. For this reason, it is necessary to evaluate the human exposure (defined as the contacts of a chemical, physical, or biological agent with the outer boundary of an organism [1]) to these pollutants. It is necessary to evaluate the human exposure (defined as the contacts of a chemical, physical, or biological agent with the outer boundary of an organism [1]) to these pollutants These chemical factors may cause serious health problems, and their adverse effects are critical in urban areas, representing hotspots, due to traffic emissions [2]. Different studies have been conducted to evaluate the exposure of commuters to pollutants across Europe, considering different traffic (and nontraffic) MEs, as reported in the literature [3,4], and to assess variations among commuting modes

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