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Photometrically measured continuous personal PM2.5 exposure: Levels and correlation to a gravimetric method

Abstract

There is evidence that hourly variations in exposure to airborne particulate matter (PM) may be associated with adverse health effects. Still there are only few published data on short-term levels of personal exposure to PM in community settings. The objectives of the study were to assess hourly and shorter-term variations in personal PM2.5 exposure in Helsinki, Finland, and to compare results from portable photometers to simultaneously measured gravimetric concentrations. The effect of relative humidity on the photometric results was also evaluated. Personal PM2.5 exposures of elderly persons were assessed for 24 h every second week, resulting in 308 successful measurements from 47 different subjects. Large changes in concentrations in minutes after cooking or changing microenvironment were seen. The median of daily 1-h maxima was over twice the median of 24-h averages. There was a strong significant association between the two means, which was not linear. Median (95th percentile) of the photometric 24-h concentrations was 12.1 (37.7) and of the 24-h gravimetric concentrations 9.2 (21.3) μg/m3. The correlation between the photometric and the gravimetric method was quite good (R2=0.86). Participants spent 94.1% of their time indoors or in a vehicle, where relative humidity is usually low and thus not likely to cause significant effects on photometric results. Even outdoors, the relative humidity had only modest effect on concentrations. Photometers are a promising method to explore the health effects of short-term variation in personal PM2.5 exposure.

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Acknowledgements

In National Public Health Institute, the assistance of Ms. Kati Oravisjärvi and Ms. Annalea Lohila with data collection and Dr. Matti Vartiainen with designing the sampling system is gratefully acknowledged. The project was done in the framework of the ULTRA study with funding from EU contract ENV4-CT97-0568. Funding for personal measurements came from Health Effects Institute (research agreement No. 98-16). Additional funding came from Academy of Finland (research agreement No. 42625), and intramural funding from National Public Health Institute.

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Correspondence to TIMO LANKI.

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LANKI, T., ALM, S., RUUSKANEN, J. et al. Photometrically measured continuous personal PM2.5 exposure: Levels and correlation to a gravimetric method. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 12, 172–178 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jea.7500218

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