Markov Modeling of Contaminant Concentrations in Indoor Air

Details

• Personal Author:
  Nicas M
• Description:
  Most models for contaminant dispersion in indoor air are deterministic and do not account for the probabilistic nature of the pollutant concentration at a given room position and time. Such variability can be important when estimating concentrations involving small numbers of contaminant particles. This article describes the use of probabilistic models termed Markov chains to account for a portion of this variability. The deterministic and Markov models are related in that the former provide the expected concentration values. To explain this relationship, a single-zone (well-mixed room) scenario is described as a Markov chain. Subsequently, a two-zone room is cast as a Markov model, and the latter is applied to assessing a health care worker's risk of tuberculosis infection. Airborne particles carrying Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacilli are usually present in small numbers in a room occupied by an infectious tuberculosis patient. For a given scenario, the Markov model permits estimates of variability in exposure intensity and the resulting variability in infection risk. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aerosols Air Pollutants, Occupational Air Pollution Air Pollution, Indoor Communicable Disease Control Communicable Diseases Environmental Monitoring Health Care Facilities Workforce And Services Health Personnel Occupational Health Particulate Matter Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety

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• Keywords:
  Aerosol-particles Aerosol-sampling Air-contamination Air-quality Air-quality-monitoring Air-sampling Airborne-particles Analytical-models Disease-control Disease-incidence Disease-transmission Health-care-facilities Health-care-personnel Infection-control Infectious-diseases Risk-analysis Risk-factors Simulation-methods

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• ISSN:
  0002-8894
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  484-491
• Volume:
  61
• Issue:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20029856
• Citation:
  Am Ind Hyg Assoc J 2000 Jul/Aug; 61(4):484-491
• Contact Point Address:
  Center for Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2000
• NORA Priority Area:
  Research Tools and Approaches: Risk Assessment Methods
• Performing Organization:
  University of California-Berkeley, School of Public Health, Center for Occupational and Environmental Health, Berkeley, CA 94720
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19960701
• Source Full Name:
  American Industrial Hygiene Association Journal
• End Date:
  19990630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:25d867b2859132c8ad3c5bb8132152f59cc55b35fd3ed76343dcd7c3b08f78563036997870a5d34a31f09e1addff660195a6c0d93e09a8568b722efbd5e57bd5
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/190759/cdc_190759_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 343.02 KB ]