Indoor Particle Concentrations, Size Distributions, and Exposures in Middle Eastern Microenvironments

Abstract

There is limited research on indoor air quality in the Middle East. In this study, concentrations and size distributions of indoor particles were measured in eight Jordanian dwellings during the winter and summer. Supplemental measurements of selected gaseous pollutants were also conducted. Indoor cooking, heating via the combustion of natural gas and kerosene, and tobacco/shisha smoking were associated with significant increases in the concentrations of ultrafine, fine, and coarse particles. Particle number (PN) and particle mass (PM) size distributions varied with the different indoor emission sources and among the eight dwellings. Natural gas cooking and natural gas or kerosene heaters were associated with PN concentrations on the order of 100,000 to 400,000 cm −3 and PM 2.5 concentrations often in the range of 10 to 150 µg/m 3 . Tobacco and shisha (waterpipe or hookah) smoking, the latter of which is common in Jordan, were found to be strong emitters of indoor ultrafine and fine particles in the dwellings. Non-combustion cooking activities emitted comparably less PN and PM 2.5 . Indoor cooking and combustion processes were also found to increase concentrations of carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and volatile organic compounds. In general, concentrations of indoor particles were lower during the summer compared to the winter. In the absence of indoor activities, indoor PN and PM 2.5 concentrations were generally below 10,000 cm −3 and 30 µg/m 3 , respectively. Collectively, the results suggest that Jordanian indoor environments can be heavily polluted when compared to the surrounding outdoor atmosphere primarily due to the ubiquity of indoor combustion associated with cooking, heating, and smoking.

Indoor and outdoor relationships of particle with different sizes in an apartment in Hanoi: mass concentration and respiratory dose estimation

“…It should be noted that during summer, windows/doors were kept closed during campaign, causing to prevent the air exchange between indoor and outdoor. In addition, more indoor activities are attributable to accumulate particles with different sizes in the residential apartment, which are consistent with the previous studies in which particles could be originated sharply from indoor activities (food cooking, smoking or cleaning acitivities) [8,9,12].…”

“…In the summer, proportions of NP contributions on other different sizers are higher than those in winter and proportions of indoor NP increase in comparison with those in outdoor NP. It may be understood that, indoor sources such as cooking, smoking, cleaning activities can release more NP, that were reported in previous studies [8,11,12]. The higher indoor proportions of coarse particles are explained by occupants' activities contributing mainly by the resuspension [11,13].…”

“…NP may penetrate deep into the lung, which facilitates into blood stream, subsequently to other organs and their exposure linked to biomarkers of cardiovascular effects and excess mortality [5,6]. A considerable amount of studies explored size segregated particulate matter (PM) and dose estimation in some indoor environment such as Sports Facility in Poland, Dwellings in Jordan also have done in the world [7,8]. Recent studies in size resolved airborne particles in atmospheric environment have been conducted in Viet Nam.…”

Assessment of Air Quality in School Environments in Hanoi, Vietnam: A Focus on Mass-Size Distribution and Elemental Composition of Indoor-Outdoor Ultrafine/Fine/Coarse Particles

“…The health effects of airborne particles (PM) depend strongly on their size, specific surface area, number, and chemical composition, such as their heavy metal contents [10,11]. These potentially toxic elements could be emitted by various sources, such as industries [3,12,13], road traffic [3,4,[13][14][15], and biomass combustions [16][17][18]. Fine and ultrafine particles can penetrate deeply into the human respiratory system, and hence may cause more adverse impacts on human health [5,11].…”

Assessment of Integrated Aerosol Sampling Techniques in Indoor, Confined and Outdoor Environments Characterized by Specific Emission Sources

“…The parallel sampling of PN and PM is thus becoming more and more important in the aerosol monitoring field. Even indoor aerosol monitoring is capturing the attention of researchers in the field, since people spend more than 80% of their time in closed environments [13,14], and instantaneous PN values could increase by more orders of magnitude with respect to background levels after the activation of aerosol indoor sources [11,15].…”