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Long-Term Measurements of Particulate Matter in Residential Households: Case Studies with Cooking Methods, Cleaning, and Other Everyday Activities
SIERRA LALTRELLO, Azita Amiri, Shanhu Lee, The University of Alabama in Huntsville
Abstract Number: 31
Working Group: Indoor Aerosols
Abstract
Humans spend approximately 80%-90% of their lives indoors, and past studies have shown that indoor particulate matter (PM) negatively affect human health. Previous indoor PM measurements were performed mostly in laboratories or “test-houses” without residents living inside under controlled conditions, thus not being fully-representative of real living environments. Continuous long-term measurements in real houses are essential for assessing diurnal and seasonal changes as well as PM response to everyday human activities. In this study, we show 1-year long continuous measurements using a prototype monitor (Portable Aerosol Spectrometer Dust Decoder, Model 11-D, Grimm Inc.) with a size range from 0.25 to 35 µm. This instrument does not require any chemicals, pumps, or radiation sources to operate, allowing long-term measurements of PM in residential households under safe and unperturbed conditions. We looked at three authentic households in the Southeastern U.S from May 2019 to May 2020. Our study shows that oil-rich cooking releases more PM than methods like boiling and steaming, whereas time of day does not necessarily play a distinctive role. Cooking intensity plays a role in the amount of PM despite the type of appliance used. In particular, big cooking holidays, like Thanksgiving and Christmas, produce large amounts of PM2.5 (averaging around 20 µg/m-3 throughout the experiment) even with kitchen exhaust and house ventilation. Cooking produces more fine mode particles, whereas cleaning with a vacuum cleaner produces more coarse mode particles. Spraying air freshener and using the dishwasher also produce elevated coarse PM levels. Measurements during the pandemic period provide unique insights on how human occupancy affects indoor air quality. Our study reinforces the findings of previous research from simulated environments and further provides a big picture on how authentic household diversity plays a role in indoor PM levels.