AAAR 35th Annual Conference October 17 - October 21, 2016 Oregon Convention Center Portland, Oregon, USA
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Indoor-Outdoor Relationship of PM And Health Risk Assessment
Ruchi Sharma, RAJASEKHAR BALASUBRAMANIAN, National University of Singapore
Abstract Number: 654 Working Group: Aerosol Exposure
Abstract Particulate air pollution is a major environmental problem, especially in highly urbanized cities such as Singapore. Airborne particulate matter (PM) has been linked to adverse health effects, and more strongly than coarser particles because of the ability of the former to penetrate deeper into the respiratory tract and to translocate to other organs. It has been estimated that people spend approximately 80% of their time indoors. Consequently, indoor exposure constitutes a significant fraction of total exposure to atmospheric pollutants for people. Also, the ultrafine particle fraction of PM (PM with size less than 100 nm) has high toxic metal contents, and exposure to such particles could induce a high oxidative stress potential. We carried out a series of systematic studies to characterize the chemical composition, sources, indoor- outdoor relationships of size-fractionated PM and quantify human health risks to aerosol particles in indoor environments equipped with and without “air purifiers”. The outcome of the study will be helpful to suggest appropriate mitigation strategies to reduce human exposure to airborne toxic chemical species in PM.