AAAR 32nd Annual Conference
September 30 - October 4, 2013
Oregon Convention Center
Portland, Oregon, USA
Abstract View
Particle Concentrations in Retail Environments
Marwa Zaatari, JEFFREY SIEGEL, The University of Toronto
Abstract Number: 353 Working Group: Indoor Aerosols
Abstract Particles in retail environments can have enormous consequences for the occupational health of retail workers, for infectious disease transmission, and for the energy costs associated with filtration and ventilation. We measured indoor and outdoor mass concentrations of PM10 and PM2.5 and number concentrations of submicron particles (>20 nm) and size-resolved 0.3 – 10 µm particles and ventilation rates in 14 retail stores in Pennsylvania and Texas, including several stores visited multiple times over a year to assess any seasonal changes. Overall, the results were generally suggestive of relatively clean environments when compared to other investigations of other building types, although concentrations exceeded outdoor regulatory limits in several stores. PM10 and PM2.5 mass concentrations (mean±sd) were 20±14 and 11±10 μg/m3, respectively, with indoor-to-outdoor ratios of 1.0±0.7 and 0.88±1. Mean submicron particle number concentrations were 7,220±7,500 particles /cm3 with an indoor-to-outdoor ratio of 1.18±1.30. Stores with high concentrations of particles were generally associated with cooking (PM2.5 and submicron particles), recent cleaning (submicron particles), large amounts of foot traffic (PM10 and PM2.5), as well as high outdoor concentrations (all sizes). The mean contribution to PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations from indoor sources (vs. outdoors) was 78% and 45%, respectively. There was no significant correlation between measured ventilation rates and particle concentrations of any size, which suggests the complexity of particle sources and sinks in these environments.