AAAR 35th Annual Conference October 17 - October 21, 2016 Oregon Convention Center Portland, Oregon, USA
Abstract View
Using a Portable Air Cleaner to Improve Residential Indoor Air Quality in Chongqing, China
QINGYU MENG, Han Wang, Jing Zhang, Runming Yao, Zhihua Fan, Baizhan Li, Howard Kipen, Rutgers School of Public Health
Abstract Number: 719 Working Group: Indoor Aerosols
Abstract Ambient air quality in China has experienced significant deterioration in the past 20 years. One promising approach to reduce air pollution exposure is to use portable air cleaners in indoor environments. The effectiveness of portable air cleaners to reduce indoor air pollution has not been tested in high air pollution areas (e.g., urban areas in China), in lower latitude cities where home ventilation patterns are different from higher latitude areas, and for application to mixtures of air pollutants (e.g. primary pollutants and pollutants formed through indoor air chemistry).
We conducted an intervention study in 20 residential homes in Chongqing, China, to test the effectiveness of a portable air cleaner for indoor air quality improvement. Each home was followed for four consecutive days, during which the air cleaner was operated with a high efficiency particle air (HEPA) filter (with a charcoal layer) installed for two days and without the filter installed for the other two days. On each day, simultaneous indoor and outdoor measurements was conducted, including PM2.5, black carbon, NO2, O3, formaldehyde, OC and EC, 6-MHO, temperature and humidity, and CO2.
The air pollution level in Chongqing was high during our study, with outdoor PM2.5 concentrations ranging from 63.3 µg/m3 to 127.5 µg/m3. Indoor pollutants of outdoor origin accounted for more than 50% of the measured indoor air pollutants. Operating a portable air cleaner with HEPA filter indoors significantly reduced the infiltration factors of PM2.5, black carbon, and O3 by 22.9%, 7.5%, and 14.5%, respectively. The air cleaner also reduced outdoor originated PM2.5, black carbon, and O3 by 19.4%, 34.9%, and 40.8%, respectively. Using the portable air cleaner reduced the population attributable risk for PM2.5 from 18% to 13% for COPD and from 24% to 17% for lung cancer.