AAAR 34th Annual Conference
October 12 - October 16, 2015
Hyatt Regency
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Abstract View
Physical and Chemical Characterization of Indoor Dusts: A Critical Review
ALIREZA MAHDAVI, Jeffrey Siegel, University of Toronto
Abstract Number: 269 Working Group: Indoor Aerosols
Abstract Physical and chemical characterization of indoor particles deposited on surfaces and on heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) filters offer novel insights about particle exposures. The current investigation reviews the literature regarding the physical and chemical analysis of indoor dust samples, as well as the impact of environmental conditions on the sample analysis. We first conducted a broad and deep literature review in the Science Citation Index. On physical analysis, the main focus was given to the properties such as particle size and size distribution, as well as particle morphology. A similar search was also done for chemical analysis with the main focus on the analyte type (e.g., PAHs, SVOCs, metals), concentrations, distributions, detection frequencies and indoor/outdoor ratios. Where available, we included relevant metadata including building characteristics, meteorological, and geographical conditions. The review revealed various size distribution patterns depending on the environmental conditions, including bimodal or unimodal distributions. Morphological information often provided insight on the source of particles. In some investigations, concentration of various analytes decreased with particle size suggesting that a reasonable relationship between chemical and physical properties could be inferred. An example is the detection frequency of specific analytes in different size fractions. The literature also suggested the significant impact of environmental conditions such as the number of occupants inside the buildings as well as the geographic location on both chemical and physical characterizations of the indoor dusts. The results suggest that indoor dust is an untapped resource for characterizing exposure to indoor particles.