Indoor and Outdoor Air Particulate Matter

A special issue of Environments (ISSN 2076-3298).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (21 May 2021) | Viewed by 4233

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Center for Nuclear Sciences and Technologies, Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
Interests: atmospheric pollution; indoor and outdoor air quality; airborne particulate matter measurements; chemistry of particulate matter; exposure assessment; source apportionment; air pollution mitigation strategies
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Particulate matter (PM) is an air pollutant of great and increasing concern to human health. Particle properties depend not only on their originating sources, but also on the dynamic physico-chemical processes that follow their formation. Personal exposure to PM depends on the lifestyle of each individual and the different microenvironments frequented. A holistic and accurate characterization of both outdoor and indoor PM is essential to better assess total personal exposure to PM, as well as the consequent health effects. Such knowledge is crucial for the proper development of effective mitigation strategies.

This Special Issue intends to compile high quality research on PM characterization in indoor and outdoor microenvironments, to support the assessment of integrated personal exposure. Indoor particulate pollution is highly site-specific, since some sources are uniquely building-related. Thus, studies with site-specific measurements (e.g., residence, workplace, and public building) are welcome. Detailed characterization of short-term pollution events such as specific indoor activity (e.g. cooking, cleaning, smoking, and dust resuspension) will be valued. Concerning outdoor PM, strong consideration will be given to studies discussing urban and suburban measurements, at a wide variety of sites (e.g. roadside, background and green spaces). Although commuting accounts for a short period of a person’s daily time, its contribution to the total exposure to PM may be disproportionally high. Thus, research studies in transport modes also deserve attention in this Special Issue. Investigation of indoor-to-outdoor PM relationships will be highly valuable. Finally, a particular focus will be given for studies that establish actions towards an effective reduction of PM levels, by identifying and encouraging the application of practical mitigation strategies.

This Special Issue invites research in the areas of particulate air pollution, with topics of interest including, but not limited to, those indicated in the keywords.

Dr. Vânia Martins
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • particulate matter pollution
  • air monitoring
  • exposure assessment
  • particle chemical composition
  • particle size distribution
  • dosimetry
  • health risk assessment
  • source apportionment
  • air pollution mitigation strategies

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

20 pages, 2769 KiB  
Article
Indoor and Outdoor Nanoparticle Concentrations in an Urban Background Area in Northern Sweden: The NanoOffice Study
by Hans Orru, Annika Hagenbjörk and Henrik Olstrup
Environments 2021, 8(8), 75; https://doi.org/10.3390/environments8080075 - 9 Aug 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3449
Abstract
In recent years, nanoparticles (NPs) have received much attention due to their very small size, high penetration capacity, and high toxicity. In urban environments, combustion-formed nanoparticles (CFNPs) dominate in particle number concentrations (PNCs), and exposure to those particles constitutes a risk to human [...] Read more.
In recent years, nanoparticles (NPs) have received much attention due to their very small size, high penetration capacity, and high toxicity. In urban environments, combustion-formed nanoparticles (CFNPs) dominate in particle number concentrations (PNCs), and exposure to those particles constitutes a risk to human health. Even though fine particles (<2.5 µm) are regularly monitored, information on NP concentrations, both indoors and outdoors, is still limited. In the NanoOffice study, concentrations of nanoparticles (10–300 nm) were measured both indoors and outdoors with a 5-min time resolution at twelve office buildings in Umeå. Measurements were taken during a one-week period in the heating season and a one-week period in the non-heating season. The measuring equipment SMPS 3938 was used for indoor measurements, and DISCmini was used for outdoor measurements. The NP concentrations were highest in offices close to a bus terminal and lowest in offices near a park. In addition, a temporal effect appeared, usually with higher concentrations of nanoparticles found during daytime in the urban background area, whereas considerably lower nanoparticle concentrations were often present during nighttime. Infiltration of nanoparticles from the outdoor air into the indoor air was also common. However, the indoor/outdoor ratios (I/O ratios) of NPs showed large variations between buildings, seasons, and time periods, with I/O ratios in the range of 0.06 to 0.59. The reasons for high indoor infiltration rates could be NP emissions from adjacent outdoor sources. We could also see particle growth since the indoor NPs were, on average, almost twice as large as the NPs measured outdoors. Despite relatively low concentrations of NPs in the urban background air during nighttime, they could rise to very high daytime concentrations due to local sources, and those particles also infiltrated the indoor air. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Indoor and Outdoor Air Particulate Matter)
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