Abstract
ABSTRACTIndoor/outdoor aerosol size distribution was measured in four European cities (Oslo–Norway, Prague–Czech Republic, Milan–Italy and Athens–Greece) during 2002 in order to examine the differences in the characteristics of the indoor/outdoor modal structure and to evaluate the effect of indoor sources to the aerosol size distributions. All the measurement sites were naturally ventilated and were occupied during the campaigns by permanent residents or for certain time periods by the technical staff responsible for the instrumentation. Outdoor particle number (PN) concentrations presented the higher values in Milan and Athens (median values 1.4 × 104 # cm–3 and 2.9 × 104 # cm–3 respectively) as a result of elevated outdoor emissions and led to correspondingly higher indoor values compared to Oslo and Prague. In absence of indoor activities, the indoor concentrations followed the fluctuations of the outdoor concentrations in all the measurement sites. Indoor activities (cooking, smoking, etc.) resulted in elevated indoor PN concentrations (maximum values ranging between 1.7 × 105 # cm–3 and 3.2 × 105 # cm–3) and to I/O ratios higher than one. The I/O ratios were size dependant and for periods without indoor activities, they presented the lowest values for particles < 50 nm (0.51 ± 0.15) and the ratios increased with fine particle size (0.79 ± 0.12 for particles between 100–200 nm). The analysis of the modal structure showed that the indoor aerosol size distribution characteristics differ from the outdoors under the effect of indoor sources. The percentage of unimodal size distributions increased during indoor emissions, compared to periods without indoor sources, along with the number concentration of Aitken mode particles, indicating emissions in specific size ranges according to the type of the indoor source.
Highlights
A number of epidemiological studies revealed various correlations between high particulate matter (PM) concentrations and adverse health effects, including respiratory symptoms, asthma and allergies, decreased lung function, cardiovascular disorders and increased mortality (Pope et al., 2009; Bentayeb et al, 2012; Kim et al, 2015; Maynard, 2015; Wang et al, 2016)
Indoor/outdoor aerosol size distribution was measured in four European cities (Oslo–Norway, Prague–Czech Republic, Milan–Italy and Athens–Greece) during 2002 in order to examine the differences in the characteristics of the indoor/outdoor modal structure and to evaluate the effect of indoor sources to the aerosol size distributions
Measurement Sites The indoor/outdoor particle number (PN) concentration measurements were performed at the metropolitan areas of Athens, Milan, Prague and Oslo as part of work performed within the framework of the multi-centre Characterization of Urban Air Quality Indoor/Outdoor Particulate Matter Chemical Characteristics and Source-to-Inhaled Dose Relationships (URBAN – AEROSOL) study
Summary
A number of epidemiological studies revealed various correlations between high particulate matter (PM) concentrations and adverse health effects, including respiratory symptoms, asthma and allergies, decreased lung function, cardiovascular disorders and increased mortality The particle’s penetration efficiency into the human respiratory tract is size dependant and has its maxima in the size range of 100 nm - 1 μm (Housiadas and Lazaridis 2010; Lazaridis et al, 2001; Hussein et al, 2015) and these particles can be more dangerous to human health (Oberdörster, 2001; Franck et al, 2011; Heinzerling et al, 2016) These findings prompted many researchers, in recent years, to focus on PN concentrations in residential areas (Bhangar et al, 2011; Kerney et al, 2011; Mullen et al, 2011) and, to estimate the contribution of the outdoor environment and of the indoor sources to the indoor particle load (Morawska et al, 2001; He et al, 2004; Matson, 2005; Beko et al, 2013; Talbot et al, 2016; Tong et al, 2016). The focus of this work is on the characteristics of the indoor to outdoor number size distributions and on estimating the effect of indoor sources to indoor aerosol modal structure
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