Human personal air pollution clouds in a naturally ventilated office during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Autor: Yang S; Human-Oriented Built Environment Lab, School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland., Muthalagu A; Human-Oriented Built Environment Lab, School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.; Environmental Systems Group, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, Kandi, India., Serrano VG; Human-Oriented Built Environment Lab, School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland., Licina D; Human-Oriented Built Environment Lab, School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Building and environment [Build Environ] 2023 May 15; Vol. 236, pp. 110280. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Apr 07.
DOI: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2023.110280
Abstrakt: Personal cloud, termed as the difference in air pollutant concentrations between breathing zone and room sites, represents the bias in approximating personal inhalation exposure that is linked to accuracy of health risk assessment. This study performed a two-week field experiment in a naturally ventilated office during the COVID-19 pandemic to assess occupants' exposure to common air pollutants and to determine factors contributing to the personal cloud effect. During occupied periods, indoor average concentrations of endotoxin (0.09 EU/m 3 ), TVOC (231 μg/m 3 ), CO 2 (630 ppm), and PM 10 (14 μg/m 3 ) were below the recommended limits, except for formaldehyde (58 μg/m 3 ). Personal exposure concentrations, however, were significantly different from, and mostly higher than, concentrations measured at room stationary sampling sites. Although three participants shared the same office, their personal air pollution clouds were mutually distinct. The mean personal cloud magnitude ranged within 0-0.05 EU/m 3 , 35-192 μg/m 3 , 32-120 ppm, and 4-9 μg/m 3 for endotoxin, TVOC, CO 2 , and PM 10 , respectively, and was independent from room concentrations. The use of hand sanitizer was strongly associated with an elevated personal cloud of endotoxin and alcohol-based VOCs. Reduced occupancy density in the office resulted in more pronounced personal CO 2 clouds. The representativeness of room stationary sampling for capturing dynamic personal exposures was as low as 28% and 5% for CO 2 and PM 10 , respectively. The findings of our study highlight the necessity of considering the personal cloud effect when assessing personal exposure in offices.
Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(© 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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