Analysis, Exposures, and Health Risks of Indoor and Outdoor Air Pollution

A comprehensive study assessed indoor air quality parameters, focusing on relevant air pollutants such as particulate matter (PM₁₀ and PM_2.5), gaseous compounds (CO, CO₂, formaldehyde, NO₂) and volatile/semi-volatile organic chemicals, as well as respiratory viruses (including SARS-CoV-2), fungi and bacteria in Spanish university classrooms. Non-target screening strategies evaluated the presence of organic pollutants inside and outside the classrooms. Saliva samples from teachers and students were collected to explore correlations between respiratory viruses in the air and biological samples. Indoor results revealed the punctual exceedance of recommended guidelines for CO₂, formaldehyde (HCHO), volatile organic compounds (TVOCs) and PM in the least naturally ventilated classrooms. Significant differences occurred between the classes, with the least ventilated one showing higher average concentrations of CO₂, HCHO, NO₂, PM₁₀ and PM_2.5. A respiratory virus (rhinovirus/enterovirus) was detected in the medium naturally ventilated classroom, although saliva samples tested negative. Suspect screening tentatively identified 65 substances indoors and over 200 outdoors, with approximately half reporting a high toxicological risk based on the Cramer rules. The study provides a comprehensive overview of indoor air quality, respiratory viruses and organic pollutants in university classrooms, highlighting the variations and potential health risks associated with ventilation differences. Full article

Background: The Reducing Air Pollution in Detroit Intervention Study (RAPIDS) was designed to evaluate cardiovascular health benefits and personal fine particulate matter (particulate matter < 2.5 μm in diameter, PM_2.5) exposure reductions via portable air filtration units (PAFs) among older adults in Detroit, Michigan. This double-blind randomized crossover intervention study has shown that, compared to sham, air filtration for 3 days decreased 3-day average brachial systolic blood pressure by 3.2 mmHg. The results also showed that commercially available HEPA-type and true HEPA PAFs mitigated median indoor PM_2.5 concentrations by 58% and 65%, respectively. However, to our knowledge, no health intervention study in which a significant positive health effect was observed has also evaluated how outdoor and indoor PM_2.5 sources impacted the subjects. With that in mind, detailed characterization of outdoor and indoor PM_2.5 samples collected during this study and a source apportionment analysis of those samples using a positive matrix factorization model were completed. The aims of this most recent work were to characterize the indoor and outdoor sources of the PM_2.5 this community was exposed to and to assess how effectively commercially available HEPA-type and true HEPA PAFs were able to reduce indoor and outdoor PM_2.5 source contributions. Methods: Approximately 24 h daily indoor and outdoor PM_2.5 samples were collected on Teflon and Quartz filters from the apartments of 40 study subjects during each 3-day intervention period. These filters were analyzed for mass, carbon, and trace elements. Environmental Protection Agency Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) 5.0 was utilized to determine major emission sources that contributed to the outdoor and indoor PM_2.5 levels during this study. Results: The major sources of outdoor PM_2.5 were secondary aerosols (28%), traffic/urban dust (24%), iron/steel industries (15%), sewage/municipal incineration (10%), and oil combustion/refinery (6%). The major sources of indoor PM_2.5 were organic compounds (45%), traffic + sewage/municipal incineration (14%), secondary aerosols (13%), smoking (7%), and urban dust (2%). Infiltration of outdoor PM_2.5 for sham, HEPA-type, and true HEPA air filtration was 79 ± 24%, 61 ± 32%, and 51 ± 34%, respectively. Conclusions: The results from our study showed that intervention with PAFs was able to significantly decrease indoor PM_2.5 derived from outdoor and indoor PM_2.5 sources. The PAFs were also able to significantly reduce the infiltration of outdoor PM_2.5. The results of this study provide insights into what types of major PM_2.5 sources this community is exposed to and what degree of air quality and systolic blood pressure improvements are possible through the use of commercially available PAFs in a real-world setting. Full article