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Influence of ambient (outdoor) sources on residential indoor and personal PM2.5 concentrations: Analyses of RIOPA data

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 15, pages 17–28 (2005)Cite this article

Abstract

The Relationship of Indoor, Outdoor and Personal Air (RIOPA) study was designed to investigate residential indoor, outdoor and personal exposures to several classes of air pollutants, including volatile organic compounds, carbonyls and fine particles (PM2.5). Samples were collected from summer, 1999 to spring, 2001 in Houston (TX), Los Angeles (CA) and Elizabeth (NJ). Indoor, outdoor and personal PM2.5 samples were collected at 212 nonsmoking residences, 162 of which were sampled twice. Some homes were chosen due to close proximity to ambient sources of one or more target analytes, while others were farther from sources. Median indoor, outdoor and personal PM2.5 mass concentrations for these three sites were 14.4, 15.5 and 31.4 μg/m3, respectively. The contributions of ambient (outdoor) and nonambient sources to indoor and personal concentrations were quantified using a single compartment box model with measured air exchange rate and a random component superposition (RCS) statistical model. The median contribution of ambient sources to indoor PM2.5 concentrations using the mass balance approach was estimated to be 56% for all study homes (63%, 52% and 33% for California, New Jersey and Texas study homes, respectively). Reasonable variations in model assumptions alter median ambient contributions by less than 20%. The mean of the distribution of ambient contributions across study homes agreed well for the mass balance and RCS models, but the distribution was somewhat broader when calculated using the mass balance model with measured air exchange rates.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Health Effects Institute, the Mickey Leland National Urban Air Toxics Center, the NIEHS Center of Excellence, the NJ Agricultural Experiment Station, and an EPA STAR Graduate Fellowship (for D. Shendell). We gratefully acknowledge the hard work of all the students and technicians in the field and laboratories of RIOPA investigators and the hospitality of the RIOPA participants. In addition, we thank Dr. Wayne Ott of Stanford University for his advice, and acknowledge the guidance of Dr. Glen Cass, who will be missed.

Research described in this article was conducted, in part, under contract to the Health Effects Institute (HEI), an organization jointly funded by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA: Assistance Agreement R828112) and automotive manufacturers. The contents of this article do not necessarily reflect the views of HEI, nor do they necessarily reflect the views and policies of EPA or of motor vehicle and engine manufacturers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Sciences, Rutgers University, 14 College Farm Rd, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 08901, USA

    Qing Yu Meng, Barbara J Turpin, Jong Hoon Lee, Robert Giovanetti, William Cui & Jaymin Kwon

  2. Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, 170 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, New Jersey, 08854, USA

    Barbara J Turpin, Leo Korn, Clifford P Weisel, Junfeng Zhang, Lin Zhang, Jaymin Kwon & Shahnaz Alimokhtari

  3. School of Public Health, Houston Health Sciences Center, University of Texas, 1200 Hermann Pressler, Houston, Texas, 77030, USA

    Maria Morandi, Thomas Stock & Silvia Maberti

  4. Integrated Environmental Sciences, 5319 University Drive #430, Irvine, California, 92612, USA

    Steven Colome

  5. Environmental Science and Engineering Program, School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, 650 Charles E. Young Drive, 46-081 CHS, Los Angeles, California, 90095, USA

    Steven Colome, Arthur Winer, Derek Shendell, Jennifer Jones & Corice Farrar

  6. Rand Co., 1700 Main St., Santa Monica, California, 90401, USA

    Dalia Spektor

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Correspondence to Barbara J Turpin.

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Meng, Q., Turpin, B., Korn, L. et al. Influence of ambient (outdoor) sources on residential indoor and personal PM2.5 concentrations: Analyses of RIOPA data. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 15, 17–28 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jea.7500378

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