Abstract
ABSTRACT Most city trees in Nanjing are Platanus acerifolia and Populus nigra, which generate many whirling willow catkins in the air during the transitional season, yet little attention has been paid to the health risks, including itchy skin and respiratory infections, on occupants of roadside buildings. Since the air quality of these indoor spaces cannot meet WHO guidelines during the transitional season due to the influence of plant pollutants, a suitable ventilation scheme, together with air filtration measures, is urgently needed. Hence, four ventilation schemes were compared: natural ventilation, no ventilation with the door and windows closed, recirculating ventilation with a ceiling cassette fan-coil unit but no air filter, and recirculating ventilation with a ceiling cassette fan-coil unit and F7 filter. The performance of these modes was evaluated by comparing the effects of outdoor particulate matter on the indoor air quality. The results showed that the larger the particle size, the lower the I/O ratio. Furthermore, the influence of the occupants’ activities on indoor particle concentrations cannot be ignored, particularly for large particles, which varied more than small particles according to indoor human activity. Therefore, we suggest operating the ceiling cassette fan-coil unit with an air filter for this application, which can reduce the indoor particle concentration to an acceptable level and decrease the potential health risk posed by plant pollutants.
Highlights
It is estimated that city people spend 90% of their time indoors (Klepeis et al, 2001), and occupants usually spend most of the time on working (Mccreddin et al, 2013)
The results showed that the larger the particle size, the lower the I/O ratio
Window opening is the main reason for the increase of indoor Particle concentration during the occupied period in urban nurseries
Summary
It is estimated that city people spend 90% of their time indoors (Klepeis et al, 2001), and occupants usually spend most of the time on working (Mccreddin et al, 2013). In 2015, an estimated death of 4.2 million people was caused by exposure to PM2.5, which accounted for 7.6% of the global death rate. It resulted in disability-adjusted life-years for about 103.1 million people (Cohen et al, 2017). In Nanjing, a large number of Platanus acerifolia were planted as roadside trees, which would bring shade to the city in summer and produce a lot of problems at the same time. The seed ball of Platanus acerifolia is released with numerous stiff hairs and pollen in the period between April and June each year, which are usually dispersed with the aid of wind (Ruiz and Morales, 2008). Menzel et al (2017) have studied the pollution from pollen in April, and they suggested the countermeasures to this problem. Qiao (1986) scanned the fruit hair of Platanus
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