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Indoor aerosols: from personal exposure to risk assessment
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Indoor aerosols: from personal exposure to risk assessment

L. Morawska, A. Afshari, G. N. Bae, G. Buonanno, C. Y. H. Chao, O. Hanninen, W. Hofmann, C. Isaxon, E. R. Jayaratne, P. Pasanen, …
Indoor air, v 23(6), pp 462-487
01 Dec 2013
PMID: 23574389
url
https://doi.org/10.1111/ina.12044View
Published, Version of Record (VoR) Open

Abstract

Construction & Building Technology Engineering Engineering, Environmental Life Sciences & Biomedicine Public, Environmental & Occupational Health Science & Technology Technology
Motivated by growing considerations of the scale, severity, and risks associated with human exposure to indoor particulate matter, this work reviewed existing literature to: (i) identify state-of-the-art experimental techniques used for personal exposure assessment; (ii) compare exposure levels reported for domestic/school settings in different countries (excluding exposure to environmental tobacco smoke and particulate matter from biomass cooking in developing countries); (iii) assess the contribution of outdoor background vs indoor sources to personal exposure; and (iv) examine scientific understanding of the risks posed by personal exposure to indoor aerosols. Limited studies assessing integrated daily residential exposure to just one particle size fraction, ultrafine particles, show that the contribution of indoor sources ranged from 19% to 76%. This indicates a strong dependence on resident activities, source events and site specificity, and highlights the importance of indoor sources for total personal exposure. Further, it was assessed that 10-30% of the total burden of disease from particulate matter exposure was due to indoor-generated particles, signifying that indoor environments are likely to be a dominant environmental factor affecting human health. However, due to challenges associated with conducting epidemiological assessments, the role of indoor-generated particles has not been fully acknowledged, and improved exposure/risk assessment methods are still needed, together with a serious focus on exposure control.

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#3 Good Health and Well-Being
#11 Sustainable Cities and Communities

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
International collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Construction & Building Technology
Engineering, Environmental
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
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