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Evaluation of the vehicle contributions of metals to indoor environments

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 22, pages 489–495 (2012)Cite this article

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Abstract

A large number of diesel vehicles carrying gravel and sand shuttle back and forth every day on the major thoroughfares (Tai-16 and Tai-21) from Shinyi to Jiji in Nantou, Taiwan. A total of 10 stations along the major thoroughfares were selected as the exposure sites, whereas a small village located ∼9 km from a main traffic route was selected as the control site. Outdoor and indoor aerosol samples were collected using high-volume samplers and Harvard samplers, respectively. The metal concentrations of outdoor and indoor PM10 at the exposure sites were, respectively, higher than those at the control site. The plots between metal contents in the aerosols and road dust showed that diesel vehicles contributed significant amounts of metals to the outdoor and indoor aerosols at the exposure sites. Household dust samples along the roadside within 30 m of the main road in the small towns were collected using the wipe method. Based on the results of principal component analysis (PCA), three major components for household dust were identified: resuspended from road dust, brake wear and diesel emissions. Enrichment factors were applied to assess the contribution of pollution sources to household dust. These factors were calculated with respect to unpolluted river dust samples (EFriver) and road dust (EFroad). The differences between EFriver and EFroad could be mainly attributed to the effects of resuspension by passing vehicles. Approximately 72%, 68%, 68%, 73% and 86% of the vehicle-related metals Pb, Zn, Cu, Ni and Mo content, respectively, in household dust were the result of the resuspension of road dust by passing vehicles. The data of daily intakes of five metals (i.e., Fe, Pb, Cu, Ni and Mo) from inhalation and ingestion pathways showed that the doses from the ingestion pathway were much higher than those from the inhalation pathway.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health, College of Health Care and Management, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan, Republic of China

    Chung-Yih Kuo, Jing-Ya Wang, Wan-Tzu Liu & Pin-Yu Lin

  2. Department of Family and Community Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan, Republic of China

    Chung-Yih Kuo

  3. Department of Public Health, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan, Republic of China;

    Ching-Tsan Tsai

  4. Department of Engineering, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan, Republic of China

    Man-Ting Cheng

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  1. Chung-Yih Kuo
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Correspondence to Chung-Yih Kuo.

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Kuo, CY., Wang, JY., Liu, WT. et al. Evaluation of the vehicle contributions of metals to indoor environments. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 22, 489–495 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2012.55

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2012.55

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