Abstract
20 sets of indoor and outdoor size-segregated aerosol (SSA) samples (180 foils) were collected synchronously by using two 8 Stage Non-Viable Cascade Impactor from an office room in the central region of the megacity-Nanjing, China in winter and spring in 2016. The mass size distribution of SSAs was bimodal for outdoor SSAs and unimodal for indoor in both winter and spring. The crustal elements, such as K, Ca, Mg and Fe, were mainly distributed in the coarse fractions of SSAs while toxic elements such as As, Cd, Pb and Sb were enriched more in the fine fractions in both winter and spring. Moreover, indoor/outdoor (I/O) concentration ratios of SSAs and inorganic elements indicated the penetration of outdoor fine fractions of SSAs into indoor air. As, Pb, V and Mn showed higher inhalation bioaccessibility extracted by the artificial lysosomal fluid (ALF); while V, As, Sr and Cd showed higher inhalation bioaccessibility using the simulated lung fluid (SLF), suggesting differences in elemental inhalation bioaccessibility between ALF and SLF extraction. There were similar potential carcinogenic and accumulative non-carcinogenic risks via inhalation exposure to indoor and outdoor particle-bound toxic elements based on their bioaccessible concentrations. Therefore, the potential health risks to human posed by toxic elements in office rooms cannot be neglected via inhalation exposure of the fine airborne particles.
Highlights
It has been well documented that aerosols can result in various acute and chronic health effects to humans via inhalation and oral ingestion exposure [1,2]
The present study reported that the concentrations of outdoor coarse particles were significantly higher than those of the indoor coarse particles while no significant differences were observed between the concentrations of outdoor fine particles outdoor and indoor fine particles
Indoor/outdoor concentration ratios of size-segregated aerosol (SSA) and inorganic elements revealed the penetration of the outdoor fine particles into indoor environment
Summary
It has been well documented that aerosols can result in various acute and chronic health effects to humans via inhalation and oral ingestion exposure [1,2]. These adverse health effects depend on the concentrations of particulate matters of different sizes and on their chemical compositions [3]. Literatures have confirmed that atmospheric particulate matters (APMs) generally contain trace elements, which may result from the abundant anthropogenic sources such as industrial emissions, coal combustion emissions and automotive exhausts [5]. Investigations about SSAs—bound trace elements are important to understand and manage effects of aerosols on human health in indoor environment
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