Abstract
Accurate characterization of particulate matter (PM) exposure in young children is difficult, because personal samplers are often too heavy, bulky or impractical to be used. The Pretoddler Inhalable Particulate Environmental Robotic (PIPER) sampler was developed to help address this problem. In this study, we measured inhalable PM exposures in 2-year-olds via a lightweight personal sampler worn in a small backpack and evaluated the use of a robotic sampler with an identical sampling train for estimating PM exposure in this age group. PM mass concentrations measured by the personal sampler ranged from 100 to almost 1,200 μg/m3, with a median value of 331 μg/m3. PM concentrations measured by PIPER were considerably lower, ranging from 14 to 513 μg/m3 with a median value of 56 μg/m3. Floor cleaning habits and activity patterns of the 2-year-olds varied widely by home; vigorous play and recent floor cleaning were most associated with higher personal exposure. Our findings highlight the need for additional characterization of children’s activity patterns and their effect on personal exposures.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 6 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $43.17 per issue
Rent or buy this article
Prices vary by article type
from$1.95
to$39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Franck U, Herbarth O, Roder S, Schlink U, Borte M, Diez U et al. Respiratory effects of indoor particles in young children are size dependent. Sci Total Environ 2011; 409: 1621–1631.
Gehring U, Wijga AH, Brauer M, Fischer P, de Jongste JC, Kerkhof M et al. Traffic-related air pollution and the development of asthma and allergies during the first 8 years of life. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2010; 181: 596–603.
Habre R, Moshier E, Castro W, Nath A, Grunin A, Rohr A et al. The effects of PM2.5 and its components from indoor and outdoor sources on cough and wheeze symptoms in asthmatic children. J Exp Sci Environ Epidemiol 2014; 24: 380–387.
Ma L, Shima M, Yoda Y, Yamamoto H, Nakai S, Tamura K et al. Effects of airborne particulate matter on respiratory morbidity in asthmatic children. J Epidemiol 2008; 18: 97–110.
Miller KA, Siscovick DS, Sheppard L, Shepherd K, Sullivan JH, Anderson GL et al. Long-term exposure to air pollution and incidence of cardiovascular events in women. N Engl J Med 2007; 356: 447–458.
Klepeis NE, Nelson WC, Ott WR, Robinson JP, Tsang AM, Switzer P et al. The National Human Activity Pattern Survey (NHAPS): a resource for assessing exposure to environmental pollutants. J Exp Anal Environ Epidemiol 2001; 11: 231–252.
Abt E, Suh HH, Catalano P, Koutrakis P . Relative contribution of outdoor and indoor particle sources to indoor concentrations. Environ Sci Technol 2000; 34: 3579–3587.
Ramagopal M, Wang ZC, Black K, Hernandez M, Stambler AA, Emoekpere OH et al. Improved exposure characterization with robotic (PIPER) sampling and association with children’s respiratory symptoms, asthma and eczema. J Exp Sci Environ Epidemiol 2014; 24: 421–427.
Hammond D, Croghan C, Shin H, Burnett R, Bard R, Brook RD et al. Cardiovascular impacts and micro-environmental exposure factors associated with continuous personal PM2.5 monitoring. J Exp Sci Environ Epidemiol 2014; 24: 337–345.
Wallace L, Williams R, Rea A, Croghan C . Continuous weeklong measurements of personal exposures and indoor concentrations of fine particles for 37 health-impaired North Carolina residents for up to four seasons. Atmos Environ 2006; 40: 399–414.
Wheeler AJ, Xu XH, Kulka R, You HY, Wallace L, Mallach G et al. Windsor, Ontario Exposure Assessment Study: design and methods validation of personal, indoor, and outdoor air pollution monitoring. J Air Waste Manag Assoc 2011; 61: 324–338.
Van Ryswyk K, Wheeler AJ, Wallace L, Kearney J, You HY, Kulka R et al. Impact of microenvironments and personal activities on personal PM2.5 exposures among asthmatic children. J Exp Sci Environ Epidemiol 2014; 24: 260–268.
Shalat S, Stambler A, Wang Z, Mainelis G, Emoekpere O, Hernandez M et al. Development and in-home testing of the Pretoddler Inhalable Particulate Environmental Robotic (PIPER Mk IV) sampler. Environ Sci Technol 2011; 45: 2945–2950.
Shalat SL, Lioy PJ, Schmeelck K, Mainelis G . Improving estimation of indoor exposure to inhalable particles for children in the first year of life. J Air Waste Manag Assoc 2007; 57: 934–939.
Sagona JA, Shalat SL, Wang Z, Ramagopal M, Black K, Hernandez M et al. Evaluation of particle resuspension in young children’s breathing zone using stationary and robotic (PIPER) aerosol samplers. J Aerosol Sci 2015; 85: 30–41.
Aizenberg V, Grinshpun SA, Willeke K, Smith J, Baron PA . Performance characteristics of the button personal inhalable aerosol sampler. Am Ind Hyg Assoc J 2000; 61: 398–404.
United States Environmental Protection Agency Exposure Factors Handbook. United States Environmental Protection Agency: Washington, D.C.. 2011.
Ramagopal M, Stambler A, Wang Z, Mainelis G, Emoekpere O, Hernandez M et al. Increased prevalence of wheeze associated with elevated levels of particulate matter (PM) measured by a child surrogate robot (PIPER). Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2011; 183.
Wang Z, Shalat S, Black K, Lioy P, Stambler A, Emoekpere O et al. Use of a robotic sampling platform to assess young children’s exposure to indoor bioaerosols. Indoor Air 2012; 22: 159–169.
Qian J, Ferro AR, Fowler KR . Estimating the resuspension rate and residence time of indoor particles. J Air Waste Manag Assoc 2008; 58: 502–516.
Clayton CA, Perritt RL, Pellizzari ED, Thomas KW, Whitmore RW, Wallace LA et al. Particle Total Exposure Assessment Methodology (PTEAM) Study—distributions of aerosol and elemental concentrations in personal, indoor, and outdoor air samples in a southern California community. J Exp Anal Environ Epidemiol 1993; 3: 227–250.
McDonagh A, Byrne MA . A study of the size distribution of aerosol particles resuspended from clothing surfaces. J Aerosol Sci 2014; 75: 94–103.
Ferro AR, Kopperud RJ, Hildemann LM . Source strengths for indoor human activities that resuspend particulate matter. Environ Sci Technol 2004; 38: 1759–1764.
Roberts JW, Wallace LA, Camann DP, Dickey P, Gilbert SG, Lewis RG et al. Monitoring and reducing exposure of infants to pollutants in house dust. In: Whitacre DM (ed). Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology vol. 201. Springer: New York. 2009, pp 1–39.
Tourangeau R, Yan T . Sensitive questions in surveys. Psychol Bull 2007; 133: 859–883.
Acknowledgements
Funding for this study was provided by National Institute of Environmental Health Science (NIEHS) grants R01ES014717 and R01ES020415 (P.I.: S.L.S.) and the NIEHS funded Center for Environmental Exposure and Disease, P30ES005022 (P.I.: Zarbl H.). J.A.S. is supported by an NIEHS Training Grant in Exposure Science 1T32ES019854 (PI: Weisel, C.P.).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Supplementary Information accompanies the paper on the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology website
Supplementary information
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sagona, J., Shalat, S., Wang, Z. et al. Comparison of particulate matter exposure estimates in young children from personal sampling equipment and a robotic sampler. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 27, 299–305 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2016.24
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2016.24
Keywords
This article is cited by
-
Exploring the utility of robots in exposure studies
Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology (2021)
-
Pyrethroid levels in toddlers’ breathing zone following a simulated indoor pesticide spray
Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology (2019)
-
Crawling-induced floor dust resuspension affects the microbiota of the infant breathing zone
Microbiome (2018)