Abstract
Studying the indoor dynamics that impact particles is crucial in order to understand indoor air chemistry and assess overall human exposure to particles. This work investigates spatial gradients in particle concentration, caused by indoor transport and loss mechanisms. We conducted a variety of cooking experiments during the House Observations of Microbial and Environmental Chemistry (HOMEChem) campaign in June 2018 that allowed us to probe these mechanisms. We measured size-resolved (0.06-1 μm and 0.13-3 μm) particle number concentrations from cooking experiments using optical instruments at four locations throughout the house simultaneously. The particle number concentration in the kitchen was 40 ± 10% and 70 ± 10% higher than the concentrations in the living room and the bedroom, respectively. There was a minor size dependence, with larger differences in the smaller sizes of the accumulation mode (0.1-2.5 μm) than the larger end of the range. Dilution accounts for the majority of these concentration differences. Surface deposition was the dominant fate of particles within a zone, with observed deposition velocities ranging from 0.1 to 0.6 m h-1.
Highlights
Ambient air pollution accounts for approximately 3.7– 4.8 million deaths globally.[1]
The impact of particles on human health is a function of their concentration, size, and composition, which are in uenced by emission sources, a variety of dynamic processes, and building mechanics.[7,8,9,10,11]
In order to fully characterize the fates of accumulation mode particles indoors, we looked at particle production during cooking, particle transportation through the house, and major loss mechanisms between and within different zones
Summary
Ambient air pollution accounts for approximately 3.7– 4.8 million deaths globally.[1] One important pollutant that contributes to air quality is particulate matter. Particles have been shown to have a signi cant impact on health, and are a major cause of cardiovascular and respiratory disease.[2,3,4] Particles present in the built environment contribute substantially to overall exposure,[5] as people spend more time indoors than outside. In the US alone, people spend an average of 80–. The impact of particles on human health is a function of their concentration, size, and composition, which are in uenced by emission sources, a variety of dynamic processes (e.g. deposition, coagulation, and gas-toparticle partitioning), and building mechanics (e.g. natural and mechanical ventilation, in ltration air exchange, ltration, envelope penetration, and interzonal transport).[7,8,9,10,11] In order to better understand the full effect of indoor environments (relative to outdoor environments) on human exposure to particles, a quantitative description of the sources and sinks, including transport and deposition, of indoor particles is essential
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