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Differences in indoor versus outdoor concentrations of ultrafine particles, PM2.5, PMabsorbance and NO2 in Swiss homes

Abstract

Indoor air quality is a growing concern as we spend the majority of time indoors and as new buildings are increasingly airtight for energy saving purposes. For a better understanding of residential indoor air pollution in Switzerland we conducted repeated 1–2-week-long indoor and outdoor measurements of particle number concentrations (PNC), particulate matter (PM), light absorbance of PM2.5 (PMabsorbance) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Residents of all homes were enrolled in the Swiss Cohort Study on Air Pollution and Lung and Heart Diseases in Adults (SAPALDIA). Indoor levels were comparable in urban areas and generally low in rural homes. Average indoor levels were 7800 particles/cm3 (interquartile range=7200); 8.7 μg/m3 (6.5) PM2.5 and 10.2 μg/m3 (11.2) NO2. All pollutants showed large variability of indoor/outdoor ratios between sites. We observed similar diurnal patterns for indoor and outdoor PNC. Nevertheless, the correlation of average indoor and outdoor PNC between sites as well as longitudinal indoor/outdoor correlations within sites were low. Our results show that a careful evaluation of home characteristics is needed when estimating indoor exposure to pollutants with outdoor origin.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the field workers carrying out the air pollution measurements, the whole SAPALDIA team (listed in the Supplementary Information), and in particular the late Prof. Lee-Jane Sally Liu (1965–2011) who initiated this exposure assessment project. We also thank Dr. Robert Gehrig for his long-term contribution to this project and to SAPALDIA in general, the cantonal and national authorities for providing routine monitoring data and the study participants for their help during the data collection period. This study was funded by grant N° 324730_135673 from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and supported by the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN). SNSF is the main funder of SAPALDIA since its start in 1990 with grants no 33CSCO-134276/1, 33CSCO-108796, 3247BO-104283, 3247BO-104288, 3247BO-104284, 3247-065896, 3100-059302, 3200-052720, 3200-042532, 4026-028099, PMPDP3_129021/1 and PMPDP3_141671/1.

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Correspondence to Reto Meier.

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Supplementary Information accompanies the paper on the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology website

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Meier, R., Eeftens, M., Phuleria, H. et al. Differences in indoor versus outdoor concentrations of ultrafine particles, PM2.5, PMabsorbance and NO2 in Swiss homes. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 25, 499–505 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2015.3

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