Particle concentrations in urban microenvironments.

Although ambient particulate matter has been associated with a range of health outcomes, the health risks for individuals depend in part on their daily activities. Information about particle mass concentrations and size distributions in indoor and outdoor microenvironments can help identify high-ris...

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Main Authors: Levy, J I, Houseman, E A, Ryan, L, Richardson, D, Spengler, J D
Format: Online
Language:English
Published: 2000
Online Access:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1240162/
id pubmed-1240162
recordtype oai_dc
spelling pubmed-12401622005-11-08 Particle concentrations in urban microenvironments. Levy, J I Houseman, E A Ryan, L Richardson, D Spengler, J D Research Article Although ambient particulate matter has been associated with a range of health outcomes, the health risks for individuals depend in part on their daily activities. Information about particle mass concentrations and size distributions in indoor and outdoor microenvironments can help identify high-risk individuals and the significant contributors to personal exposure. To address these issues in an urban setting, we measured particle count concentrations in four size ranges and particulate matter (3/4) 10 microm (PM(10)) concentrations outdoors and in seven indoor microenvironments in Boston, Massachusetts. Particle counts and PM(10) concentrations were continuously measured with two light-scattering devices. Because of the autocorrelation between sequential measurements, we used linear mixed effects models with an AR-1 autoregressive correlation structure to evaluate whether differences between microenvironments were statistically significant. In general, larger particles were elevated in the vicinity of significant human activity, and smaller particles were elevated in the vicinity of combustion sources, with indoor PM(10) concentrations significantly higher than the outdoors on buses and trolleys. Statistical models demonstrated significant variability among some indoor microenvironments, with greater variability for smaller particles. These findings imply that personal exposures can depend on activity patterns and that microenvironmental concentration information can improve the accuracy of personal exposure estimation. 2000-11 /pmc/articles/PMC1240162/ /pubmed/11102296 Text en
repository_type Open Access Journal
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution US National Center for Biotechnology Information
building NCBI PubMed
collection Online Access
language English
format Online
author Levy, J I
Houseman, E A
Ryan, L
Richardson, D
Spengler, J D
spellingShingle Levy, J I
Houseman, E A
Ryan, L
Richardson, D
Spengler, J D
Particle concentrations in urban microenvironments.
author_facet Levy, J I
Houseman, E A
Ryan, L
Richardson, D
Spengler, J D
author_sort Levy, J I
title Particle concentrations in urban microenvironments.
title_short Particle concentrations in urban microenvironments.
title_full Particle concentrations in urban microenvironments.
title_fullStr Particle concentrations in urban microenvironments.
title_full_unstemmed Particle concentrations in urban microenvironments.
title_sort particle concentrations in urban microenvironments.
description Although ambient particulate matter has been associated with a range of health outcomes, the health risks for individuals depend in part on their daily activities. Information about particle mass concentrations and size distributions in indoor and outdoor microenvironments can help identify high-risk individuals and the significant contributors to personal exposure. To address these issues in an urban setting, we measured particle count concentrations in four size ranges and particulate matter (3/4) 10 microm (PM(10)) concentrations outdoors and in seven indoor microenvironments in Boston, Massachusetts. Particle counts and PM(10) concentrations were continuously measured with two light-scattering devices. Because of the autocorrelation between sequential measurements, we used linear mixed effects models with an AR-1 autoregressive correlation structure to evaluate whether differences between microenvironments were statistically significant. In general, larger particles were elevated in the vicinity of significant human activity, and smaller particles were elevated in the vicinity of combustion sources, with indoor PM(10) concentrations significantly higher than the outdoors on buses and trolleys. Statistical models demonstrated significant variability among some indoor microenvironments, with greater variability for smaller particles. These findings imply that personal exposures can depend on activity patterns and that microenvironmental concentration information can improve the accuracy of personal exposure estimation.
publishDate 2000
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1240162/
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