AAAR 37th Annual Conference October 14 - October 18, 2019 Oregon Convention Center Portland, Oregon, USA
Abstract View
Nirmala Thomas, Ph.D. Candidate, Postdoc
NIRMALA THOMAS, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey
Abstract Number: 130 Working Group: Meet the Job Seekers
Abstract Research Interest: We are well aware of adverse health effects caused by ambient air pollutants; those negative effects are further amplified by our exposures to indoor pollutants, especially since we spend about 90% of our time indoors. My research interest is to connect our investigation of aerosol and bioaerosol exposures in indoor and outdoor environments with health symptoms and properties of the environments, e.g., environmental variables and/or design, structural anomalies, and maintenance practices of the built environments. Given that multiple factors affect our exposures to aerosols and bioaerosols, there is a need to improve our ability to measure such exposures in both indoor and outdoor environments using advanced stationary and personal samplers and then integrate the exposure data with building characteristics, environmental parameters, and people’s health.
Thesis work: I already investigated the potential to use, integrate, and correlate three different data streams (i.e., traditional indoor air quality investigation, use of questionnaires and spatially resolved infrared thermography imaging) during indoor air quality investigations in residential multi-apartment buildings and then use the integrated data to investigate the effect of building deficiencies on indoor air quality and residents’ health. I also examined factors affecting the presence and spatiotemporal variability of airborne bacteria and fungi in three multi-apartment residential buildings with different heating and ventilation system types. In an ongoing work, I am examining the ability of existing and new personal samplers to determine personal bioaerosol exposures in indoor and outdoor environments accurately. The samplers are used in distinctly different locations, and the collected samples are examined using epifluorescence microscopy, hemocytometer cell counting, flow cytometry, and culturability assay.