Characterization of the vertical variation in indoor PM2.5 in an urban apartment in China

Ainiwaer，Subinuer1; Chen，Yilin2; Shen，Guofeng1; Shen，Huizhong2; Ma，Jianmin1; Cheng，Hefa1; Tao，Shu1,2

2022-09-01

10.1016/j.envpol.2022.119652

ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION   Impact Factor & Quartile

0269-7491

1873-6424

Indoor air pollution has aroused increasing concerns due to its significant adverse health impacts. Indoor PM2.5 exposure assessments often rely on PM2.5 concentration measured at a single height, which overlooks the vertical variation of PM2.5 concentrations accompanied by various indoor activities. In this study, we characterize the vertical profile of PM2.5 concentration by monitoring PM2.5 concentration at eight different heights in the kitchen and the bedroom, respectively, using low-cost sensors with high temporal resolution. The localized enhancement of PM2.5 concentration in elevated heights in the kitchen during cooking was observed on clean and polluted days, showing dominating contribution from cooking activities. The source contribution from cooking and outdoor penetration was semi-quantified using regression models. Stratified source contribution from cooking activities was evident in the kitchen during the cooking period. The contribution in elevated heights (above 170 cm) almost tripled the contrition in bottom layers (below 140 cm). In contrast, little vertical variation was observed during other times of the day in the kitchen or the bedroom. The exposure level calculated using the multi-height measurement in this study is consistently higher than the exposure level estimated from the singleheight (at 110 cm) measurement. A more significant discrepancy existed for the cookers (17.8%) than the noncookers (13.5%). By profiling the vertical gradient of PM2.5 concentration, we show the necessity to conduct multi-height measurements or proper breathing-height measurements to obtain unbiased concentration information for source apportionment and exposure assessment. In particular, the multi-height measuring scheme will be crucial to inform household cooking emission regulations.

Vertical variation Source contribution Exposure assessment Low-cost sensors

SCI ; EI

English

Corresponding

National Natural Science Foundation of China["41991312","41830641","41922057","41821005"] ; China Postdoctoral Science Foundation[2021M701573]

Environmental Sciences & Ecology

Environmental Sciences

WOS:000827262100005

ELSEVIER SCI LTD

20222712329321

Costs ; Indoor air pollution ; Kitchens

Air Pollution:451 ; Cost and Value Engineering; Industrial Economics:911 ; Mathematical Statistics:922.2

ENVIRONMENT/ECOLOGY

2-s2.0-85133430344

Web of Science

1.College of Urban Environmental Sciences,Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes,Sino-French Institute for Earth System,Peking University,Beijing,100871,China
2.School of Environmental Science and Engineering,Southern University of Science and Technology,Shenzhen,518055,China

Ainiwaer，Subinuer,Chen，Yilin,Shen，Guofeng,et al. Characterization of the vertical variation in indoor PM2.5 in an urban apartment in China[J]. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION,2022,308.

Ainiwaer，Subinuer.,Chen，Yilin.,Shen，Guofeng.,Shen，Huizhong.,Ma，Jianmin.,...&Tao，Shu.(2022).Characterization of the vertical variation in indoor PM2.5 in an urban apartment in China.ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION,308.

Ainiwaer，Subinuer,et al."Characterization of the vertical variation in indoor PM2.5 in an urban apartment in China".ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION 308(2022).