Fitness centres (FC) represent a unique indoor microenvironment. Exercising on regular basis provides countless health benefits and improves overall well-being, but if these facilities have poor indoor air quality, the respective exercisers might be subjected to some adverse risks. Considering the limited existent data, this work aimed to evaluate particulate pollution (PM PM, and ultrafine particles - UFP) in indoor air of FC and to estimate the respective risks for occupants (both staff and exercising subjects). Sampling was conducted during 40 consecutive days of May-June 2014 in general fitness areas, studios and classrooms (for group activities) of four different fitness centres (FC1-FC4) situated within Oporto metropolitan area, Portugal. The results showed that across the four FC, PM ranged between 5 and 1080 μg m with median concentrations (15-43 μg m) fulfilling the limit (50 μg m) of Portuguese legislation in all FC. PM (medians 5-37 μg m; range 5-777 μg m) exceeded thresholds of 25 μg m at some FC, indicating potential risks for the respective occupants; naturally ventilated FC exhibited significantly higher PM ranges (p < 0.05). Similarly, UFPs (range 0.5-88.6 × 10 # cm) median concentrations were higher (2-3 times) at FC without controlled ventilation systems. UFP were approximately twice higher (p < 0.05) during the occupied periods (mean of 9.7 × 10vs. 4.8 × 10 # cm) with larger temporal variations of UFP levels observed in general fitness areas than in classrooms and studios. Cardio activities (conducted in studios and classrooms) led to approximately twice the UFPs intakes than other types of exercising. These results indicate that even short-term physical activity (or more specifically its intensity) might strongly influence the daily inhalation dose. Finally, women exhibited 1.2 times higher UFPs intake than men thus suggesting the need for future gender-specific studies assessing UFP exposure.

Associations between indoor air quality (IAQ) and health in sport practise environments are not well understood due to limited knowledge of magnitude of inhaled pollutants. Thus, this study assessed IAQ in four health clubs (HC1-HC4) and estimated inhaled doses during different types of activities. Gaseous (TVOCs, CO, O, CO) and particulate pollutants (PM, PM) were continuously collected during 40 days. IAQ was influenced both by human occupancy and the intensity of the performed exercises. Levels of all pollutants were higher when clubs were occupied (p < 0.05) than for vacant periods, with higher medians in main workout areas rather than in spaces/studios for group activities. In all spaces, TVOCs highly exceeded legislative limit (600 μg/m), even when unoccupied, indicating possible risks for the respective occupants. CO levels were well correlated with relative humidity (r 0.534-0.625) and occupancy due to human exhalation and perspiration during exercising. Clubs with natural ventilations exhibited twice higher PM, with PM accounting for 93-96% of PM; both PM were highly correlated (r 0.936-0.995) and originated from the same sources. Finally, cardio classes resulted in higher inhalation doses than other types of exercising (1.7-2.6).

Although regular exercise improves overall well-being, increased physical activity results in enhanced breathing which consequently leads to elevated exposure to a variety of air pollutants producing adverse effects. It is well-known that one of these ambient air contaminants is ultrafine particles (UFP). Thus, this study aimed to (1) examine exposure to particle number concentrations (PNC) in size ranging from N20-1000 nm in different sport environments and (2) estimate the respective inhalation doses across varying activity scenarios based upon the World Health Organization recommendations for physical activity. PNC were continuously monitored (TSI P-Trak™ condensation particle counter) outdoors (Out1-Out2) and indoors (Ind1-Ind2; fitness clubs) over 4 weeks. Outdoor PNC (total median 12 563 # cm -3 ; means of 20 367 # cm -3 at Out1 and 7 122 # cm -3 at Out2) were approximately 1.6-fold higher than indoors (total median 7 653 # cm -3 ; means of 11 861 # cm -3 at Ind1 and 14 200 # cm -3 at Ind2). The lowest doses were inhaled during holistic group classes (7.91 × 10 7 -1.87 × 10 8 # per kg body weight) whereas exercising with mixed cardio and strength training led to approximately 1.8-fold higher levels. In order to optimize the health benefit of exercises, environmental characteristics of the locations at which physical activities are conducted need to be considered.

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Introduction: Falls from heights represent one of the most frequent accidents in civil constructions, mainly caused by different roofing activities. The risks should be first evaluated by conducting safety inspections, and then implementing adequate control measures to eliminate or reduce the risks of accidents. New technologies facilitate those inspections and make the processes much more efficient. The objective of this study was to make a systematic review to analyse works which used a drone as a visual tool for such safety inspection activities, systematize main information needed to consider in developing future drone research in civil construction. Methodology: The research was carried out on the Brazilian platform for scientific journals and conferences called "CAPES Portal" through the Preferred Report for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyzes (PRISMA) methodology. Several keywords were

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Introduction: In Portugal, during COVID19pandemic, sport and fitness facilities were closed. When lockdown has been lifted, in order to prevent the spread of infection, indoor sport facilities were subject to specific regulations that limited indoor occupancy as well as manner of air ventilation. This study aims to analyze the impacts of these ventilation restrictions on indoor air comfort parameters in sport fitness facilities. Methodology: Temperature (T; ºC), relative humidity (RH; %), and carbon dioxide (CO2) were continuously monitored (41 days; spring and autumn) in four fitness centers situated in Oporto metropolitan area: two of them under normal ventilation conditions (i.e. before lockdown; NV1 and NV2) and two of them under temporary restrictions for indoor ventilations and occupancy (RV1 and RV2). Results and Discussion: Under normal ventilation conditions, T in fitness centers slightly varied (in NV1:22-25 ºC; NV2: 20-23 ºC) but in both clubs the comfort recommendations (18-25 ºC) were fulfilled. On contrary, RH were below guideline values (55-75%) in NV1 (47-54%) whereas at NV2 (66-73%) it fulfilled the recommendations. When specific health regulations took place, mean T ranges were similar in both clubs (RV1: 21-23 ºC; RV2:21-23 ºC) but they both exceeded recommended comfort levels (16-21 ºC). Mean RH were in accordance with the legislative values, but the very high temporal maxima (up to 75 and 89%) indicate the possible discomforts the that exercisers might have experienced. Concerning the CO2, the obtained results showed that indoorlevels decreased when specific health restrictions were in force (11-121%) most likely due imposed guidelines for human occupancy. Conclusions: The restrictions for ventilation and human occupancy positively impacted indoor levels of CO2. However, T and RH were on several occasions outside the recommended comfort levels, especially during group activity classes. As regular exercising in environmental conditions, such as elevated T and increased RH can cause health discomforts, these parameters should be carefully maintained within the recommended ranges even under restricted ventilation scenarios.

To stay healthy, people frequent sports facilities. This work aimed to evaluate air pollution and comfort parameters in a fitness club in the post lockdown period (due to the COVID-19 pandemic), focusing on particulate material (PM10, PM2.5) and gaseous pollutants (total volatile organic compounds -TVOCs, carbon dioxide - CO2, and carbon monoxide – CO). Sampling was carried out for 10 consecutive days in October 2020 in one fitness center (Oporto, Portugal). The results showed that indoor PM10 ranged from 1.4 to 122.5 µg/m3 and PM2.5 was between 0.8 and 25 µg/m3; the overall levels were in accordance with the current legislation. TVOC means were 0.39 mg/m3 when not occupied and 0.43 mg/m3 when exercising subjects were present, thus also fulfilling the limit 0.6 mg/m3). Average CO2 was 1400 mg/m3 with temporal maxima (2660-2894 mg/m3) exceeding the protection threshold. Finally, temperature and relative humidity exceeded the recommended comfort levels, especially during group activity classes.