Comparison of Personal, Indoor, and Outdoor Exposures to Hazardous Air Pollutants in Three Urban Communities

Details

• Personal Author:
  Adgate JL ; Mongin, Steven J. ; Morandi MT ; Pratt GC ; Ramachandran G ; Sexton K ; Stock TH
• Description:
  Two-day average concentrations of 15 individual volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were measured concurrently in (a) ambient air in three urban neighborhoods, (b) air inside residences of participants, and (c) personal air near the breathing zone of 71 healthy, nonsmoking adults. The outdoor (O), indoor (I), and personal (P) samples were collected in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area over three seasons (spring, summer, and fall) in 1999 using charcoal-based passive air samplers (3M model 3500 organic vapor monitors). A hierarchical, mixed-effects statistical model was used to estimate the mutually adjusted effects of monitor location, community, and season while accounting for within-subject and within-time-index (monitoring period) correlation. Outdoor VOC concentrations were relatively low compared to many other urban areas, and only minor seasonal differences were observed. A consistent pattern of P > I > O was observed across both communities and seasons for 13 of 15 individual VOCs (exceptions were carbon tetrachloride and chloroform). Results indicate that ambient VOC measurements at central monitoring sites can seriously under-estimate actual exposures for urban residents, even when the outdoor measurements are taken in their own neighborhoods. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Air Pollution, Indoor Chemistry Demography Environmental Health Environmental Monitoring Hazardous Substances Occupational Health Particulate Matter Public Health Respiratory System Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety

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• Keywords:
  Air-contamination Air-monitoring Biohazards Biological-effects Breathing-atmospheres Breathing-zone Chemical-properties Chemical-reactions Demographic-characteristics Exposure-assessment Exposure-levels Exposure-methods Health-hazards Indoor-air-pollution Indoor-environmental-quality Inhalation-studies Mathematical-models Organic-chemicals Outdoors Particle-aerodynamics Physiological-effects Pollutants Public-health Quantitative-analysis Risk-analysis Risk-factors Seasonal-factors Statistical-analysis Volatiles

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• ISSN:
  0013-936X
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Minnesota ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 6 ; Texas
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  423-430
• Volume:
  38
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20037400
• Citation:
  Environ Sci Technol 2004 Feb; 38(2):423-430
• Contact Point Address:
  Ken Sexton, Division of Environmental and Occupational Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455
• Email:
  ksexton@utb.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2004
• Performing Organization:
  University of Minnesota Twin Cities
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Environmental Science and Technology
• End Date:
  20250630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:7cfb5fade5e512460ef2874b4f3f62bae0fcf4ca35e815ad572ae8036e1226b5a4d8717fd943fc5f8260263477d85d134dca9fb52355af0b6b34f60803cc4841
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/188499/cdc_188499_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 183.81 KB ]