Exposure and dose assessment to particle components among an elderly population

Abstract

h i g h l i g h t sElderly spend 95% of their time indoors. Indoor air quality was closely linked to personal exposure. The exposure and the inhaled dose of the studied elders differed significantly. The contribution of each indoor micro-environment depended on the particle constituents and respective sources. a r t i c l e i n f o b s t r a c tPeople spend the majority of their time indoors and the composition and toxicity of indoor particles is very complex and present significant differences comparing with outdoor aerosols. Consequently, ambient particles cannot represent a real exposure. The aim of this work was to determine the daily exposure and the daily inhaled dose to particle components of elders living in Elderly Care Centers. A questionnaire was applied to 193 institutionalized elders in order to achieve their daily time pattern and to define the micro-environments where PM 10 and its components (carbonaceous components and trace elements) were assessed. Daily exposure was calculated by integrating the elder's time spend in each micro-environment and the concentration of the pollutants for the period of interest. This parameter, together with the inhalation rate and the standard body weight, were used to calculate the daily inhaled dose. PM 10 daily exposure and daily inhaled dose ranged between 11 e 16 mg m À3 and 20 Â 10 À3 e 28 Â 10, respectively. This work not only allowed a fully quantification of the magnitude of the elders exposure, but also showed that the assessment of the integrated exposure to PM components is determinant to accomplish the dose inhaled by elders living in ECCs.

Estimating the inhaled dose of pollutants during indoor physical activity

“…Moreover, there is an increasing number of studies on exposure to air pollutants in different indoor air spaces: elderly care centers (Almeida-Silva et al, 2014a, 2014bViegas et al, 2014), offices (Almeida et al, 2013), schools (Pegas et al, 2010;Canha et al, 2011Canha et al, , 2014 and fitness centers (Ramos et al, 2014). However, only few of them have taken into account that sport practitioners have an increased minute ventilation (VĖ) compared to elders, office workers or children influencing their inhaled dose of air pollutants (Almeida-Silva et al, 2015). For increased health benefits, adults should practice moderateintensity aerobic physical activity to 300 min/week (WHO, 2010).…”

Characterizing the fungal and bacterial microflora and concentrations in fitness centres

“…8 Athletes and the common individual that practice sport present a higher risk of contact with bioaerosols and pollution due to the fact that 1. the minute ventilation could proportionally enhance the quantity of inhaled pollutants; 2. most of the air is inhaled through the mouth, bypassing the normal nasal mechanisms of filtration of larger particles and 3. the increased airflow velocity would carry pollutants deeper into the respiratory tract. 9 However, despite the importance of healthy air in sport facilities, indoor air quality (IAQ) studies have been focused principally on schools, [10][11][12][13][14][15] elderly care centres, [16][17][18][19] homes 20 and offices. 21,22 Comparatively, IAQ evaluations carried out in fitness centres (not school gymnasiums) are very scarce and few have been reported.…”

Impact of Biomass Home Heating, Cooking Styles, and Bread Toasting on the Indoor Air Quality at Portuguese Dwellings: A Case Study

“…Therefore, considering only one micro-environment is not representative of the daily overall exposure. Understanding the individuals' exposure during the different periods of the day in specific micro-environments is fundamental for providing a real and an integrated assessment [11][12][13].…”