Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Exposure to fine particles (PM2.5 and PM1) and black smoke in the general population: personal, indoor, and outdoor levels

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 17, pages 613–624 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

Personal exposure to PM2.5 and PM1, together with indoor and residential outdoor levels, was measured in the general adult population (30 subjects, 23–51 years of age) of Gothenburg, Sweden. Simultaneously, urban background concentrations of PM2.5 were monitored with an EPA WINS impactor. The 24-h samples were gravimetrically analyzed for mass concentration and black smoke (BS) using a smokestain reflectometer. Median levels of PM2.5 were 8.4 μg/m3 (personal), 8.6 μg/m3 (indoor), 6.4 μg/m3 (residential outdoor), and 5.6 μg/m3 (urban background). Personal exposure to PM1 was 5.4 μg/m3, while PM1 indoor and outdoor levels were 6.2 and 5.2 μg/m3, respectively. In non-smokers, personal exposure to PM2.5 was significantly higher than were residential outdoor levels. BS absorption coefficients were fairly similar for all microenvironments (0.4–0.5 10−5 m−1). Personal exposure to particulate matter (PM) and BS was well correlated with indoor levels, and there was an acceptable agreement between personal exposure and urban background concentrations for PM2.5 and BS2.5 (rs=0.61 and 0.65, respectively). PM1 made up a considerable amount (70–80%) of PM2.5 in all microenvironments. Levels of BS were higher outdoors than indoors and higher during the fall compared with spring. The correlations between particle mass and BS for both PM2.5 vs. BS2.5 and PM1 versus BS1 were weak for all microenvironments including personal exposure. The urban background station provided a good estimate of residential outdoor levels of PM2.5 and BS2.5 within the city (rs=0.90 and 0.77, respectively). Outdoor levels were considerably affected by long-range transported air pollution, which was not found for personal exposure or indoor levels. The within-individual (day-to-day) variability dominated for personal exposure to both PM2.5 and BS2.5 in non-smokers.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4

References

  • Branis M., Rezacova P., and Domasova M. The effect of outdoor air and indoor human activity on mass concentrations of PM10, PM2.5, and PM1 in a classroom. Environ Res 2005: 99: 143–149.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brunekreef B., and Holgate S.T. Air pollution and health. Lancet 2002: 360: 1233–1242.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cyrys J., Heinrich J., Hoek G., Meliefste K., Lewné M., Gehring U., Bellander T., Fischer P., van Vliet P., Brauer M., Wichmann H., and Brunekreef B. Comparison between different traffic-related particle indicators: elemental carbon (EC), PM2.5 mass, and absorbance. J Expo Anal Environ Epidemiol 2003: 13: 134–143.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cyrys J., Pitz M., Bischof W., Wichmann H., and Heinrich J. Relationship between indoor and outdoor levels of fine particle mass, particle number concentrations and black smoke under different ventilation conditions. J Expo Anal Environ Epidemiol 2004: 14: 275–283.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Draxler R.R., and Rolph G.D. HYSPLIT (HYbrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory) Model. NOAA Air Resources Laboratory: Silver Spring, MD, 2003.

    Google Scholar 

  • Forsberg B., Hansson H.-C., Johansson C., Areskoug H., Persson K., and Järvholm B. Comparative health impact assessment of local and regional particulate air pollutants in Scandinavia. Ambio 2005: 34: 11–19.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Götschi T., Oglesby L., Mathys P., Monn C., Manalis N., Koistinen K., Jantunen M., Hanninen O., Polanska L., and Künzli N. Comparison of black smoke and PM2.5 levels in indoor and outdoor environments of four European cities. Environ Sci Technol 2002: 36: 1191–1197.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hornung R.W., and Reed L.D. Estimation of average concentration in the presence of nondetectable values. Appl Occup Environ Hyg 1990: 5: 46–51.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hänninen O.O., Alm S., Katsouyanni K., Künzli N., Maroni M., Nieuwenhuijsen M.J., Saarela K., Radim J.S., Zmirou D., and Jantunen M.J. The EXPOLIS study: implications for exposure research and environmental policy in Europe. J Expo Anal Environ Epidemiol 2004: 14: 440–456.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • International Organization for Standardization. Ambient Air – Determination of a Black Smoke Index (ISO 9835). International Organization for Standardization, 1993: www.iso.org.

  • International Organization for Standardization. Workplace Atmospheres – Controlling and Characterizing Errors in Weighing Collected Aerosols (ISO/CD15767). International Organization for Standardization, 1998: www.iso.org.

  • Janssen N.A.H., de Hartog J.J., Hoek G., and Brunekreef B. Personal exposure to fine particulate matter in elderly subjects: relation between personal, indoor and outdoor concentrations. J Air Waste Manag Assoc 2000: 50: 1133–1143.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kinney P.L., Chillrud S.N., Ramstrom S., Ross J., and Spengler J.D. Exposures to multiple air toxics in New York City. Environ Health Perspect 2002: 110: 539–546.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Koistinen K., Kousa A., Tenhola V., Hänninen O., Jantunen M., Oglesby L., Künzli N., and Georgoulis L. Fine particle (PM2.5) measurement methodology, quality assurance procedures and pilot results of the EXPOLIS study. J Air Waste Manag Assoc 1999: 49: 1212–1220.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Koistinen K.J., Hänninen O., Rotko T., Edwards R.D., Moschandreas D., and Jantunen M.J. Behavioral and environmental determinants of personal exposure to PM2.5 in EXPOLIS – Helsinki, Finland. Atmos Environ 2001: 35: 2473–2481.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kousa A., Oglesby L., Koistinen K., Künzli N., and Jantunen M. Exposure chain of urban air PM2.5 – associations between fixed site, residential outdoor, indoor, workplace and personal exposures in four European cities in the EXPOLIS-study. Atmos Environ 2002: 36: 3031–3039.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lai H.K., Kendall M., Ferrier H., Lindup I., Alm S., Hänninen O., Jantunen M., Mathys P., Colvile R., Ashmore M.R., Cullinan P., and Nieuwenhuijsen M.J. Personal exposures and microenvironmental concentrations of PM2.5, VOC, NO2, and CO in Oxford, UK. Atmos Environ 2004: 38: 6399–6410.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Meng Q.Y., Turpin B.J., Korn L., Weisel C.P., Morandi M., Colome S., Zhang J., Stock T., Spektor D., Winer A., Zhang L., Hoon Lee J., Giovanetti R., Cui W., Kwon J., Alimokhtari S., Shendell D., Jones J., Farrar C., and Maberti S. Influence of ambient (outdoor) sources on residential indoor and personal PM2.5 concentrations: analyses of RIOPA data. J Expo Anal Environ Epidemiol 2005: 15: 17–28.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Molnár P., Johannesson S., Boman J., Barregard L., and Sallsten G. Personal exposures and indoor, residential outdoor, and urban background levels of fine particles trace elements in the general population. J Environ Monit 2006: 8: 543–551.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Oglesby L., Künzli N., Röösli M., Braun-Fahrländer C., Mathys P., Stern W., Jantunen M., and Kuosa A. Validity of ambient levels of fine particles as surrogate for personal exposure to outdoor air pollution – results of the European EXPOLIS-EAS Study. J Air Waste Manage Assoc 2000: 50: 1251–1261.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pekkanen J., Timonen K.L., Tiittanen P., Vallius M., Lanki T., Sinkko H., Ruuskanen J., Mirme A., Kulmala M., Vanninen E., Bernard A., Ibald-Mulli A., Wölke G., Stadeler M., Tuch Th., Kreyling W., Peters A., Heinrich J., de Hartog J., Oldenwenig M., Kos G., ten Brink H., Khlystov A., van Wijnen J., Brunekreef B., and Hoek G. ULTRA Exposure and risk assessment for fine and ultrafine particles in ambient air. Study Manual and Data Book. Kuopio University Printing Office, Kuopio, Finland, 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pellizzari E.D., Clayton C.A., Rodes C.E., Mason R.E., Piper L.L., Fort B., Pfeifer G., and Lynman D. Particulate matter and manganese exposures in Toronto, Canada. Atmos Environ 1999: 33: 721–734.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pope C.A., Burnett R.T., Thun M.J., Calle E.E., Krewski D., Ito K., and Thurston G.D. Lung cancer, cardiopulmonary mortality, and long term exposure to fine particulate air pollution. JAMA 2002: 287: 1132–1141.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Rappaport S.M., Symanski E., Yager J.W., and Kupper L.L. The relationship between environmental monitoring and biological markers in exposure assessment. Environ Health Perspect 1995: 103: 49–53.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Samet J.M., Dominici F., Curriero F., Coursac I., and Zeger S.L. Fine particulate air pollution and mortality in 20 US cities 1987–1994. N Engl J Med 2000: 343: 1742–1748.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • SAS Statistical software. 9.1 version 2003, SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA.

  • Sorensen M., Loft S., Andersen H.V., Raaschou-Nielsen O., Skovgaard L.T., Knudsen L.E., Nielsen I.V., and Hertel O. Personal exposure to PM2.5, black smoke and NO2 in Copenhagen: relationship to bedroom and outdoor concentrations covering seasonal variation. J Expo Anal Environ Epidemiol 2005, 1–10.

  • World Health Organization (WHO). Health Aspects of Air Pollution: Results from the WHO Project “Systematic Review of Health Aspects of Air Pollution in Europe”. World Health Organization, Copenhagen, 2004.

  • World Health Organization (WHO). WHO Air Quality Guidelines Global Update 2005: Report on a Working Group Meeting, Bonn, Germany, 18–20 October 2005 2005, World Health Organization, Copenhagen.

Download references

Acknowledgements

This project was funded by the Swedish National Air Pollution and Health Effects Program (SNAP) and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Sahlgrenska University Hospital and Academy at Gothenburg University, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Sandra Johannesson, Pernilla Gustafson, Peter Molnár, Lars Barregard & Gerd Sällsten

Authors
  1. Sandra Johannesson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Pernilla Gustafson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Peter Molnár
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Lars Barregard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Gerd Sällsten
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sandra Johannesson.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Johannesson, S., Gustafson, P., Molnár, P. et al. Exposure to fine particles (PM2.5 and PM1) and black smoke in the general population: personal, indoor, and outdoor levels. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 17, 613–624 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jes.7500562

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jes.7500562

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links