Indoor airborne particle sources and semi-volatile partitioning effect of outdoor fine PM in offices

• Published in: Atmospheric environment (1994) 2013-02, Vol.65, p.205-214
• Main Authors: Sangiorgi, G., Ferrero, L., Ferrini, B.S., Lo Porto, C., Perrone, M.G., Zangrando, R., Gambaro, A., Lazzati, Z., Bolzacchini, E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: adverse effects; air; air quality; ammonium nitrate; Applied sciences; atmospheric chemistry; Atmospheric pollution; Bisphenol A; Chemical compounds; Exact sciences and technology; Human; human health; Indoor; Indoor air quality; Indoor pollution and occupational exposure; Indoor-to-outdoor ratio; Infiltration; Inorganic ions; Offices; Outdoor; Particulate matter; people; Pollution; Pollution sources; Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; volatilization; work schedules
• ISSN: 1352-2310; 1873-2844
• DOI: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2012.10.050

To date, few studies have focused on PM air quality in offices, despite the fact that a lot of people spend many working hours a day in such offices. The aim of the present study is to investigate PM1 and PM2.5 in offices in Milan (Northern Italy) and in the air outside those offices. The PM samples were analyzed to determine the entity of certain compounds with possible direct or indirect adverse effects on human health: PAHs, BpA, and water soluble inorganic ions. A good correlation between outdoor and indoor PM mass concentrations emerged (R2 ∼0.87). The maximum I/O concentration ratio was 0.92, suggesting that the indoor PM level was always lower than the outdoor level. The average infiltration factor, FINF, was 0.55, showing that about a half of the outdoor PM had come indoors. The indoor-generated particles, Cig, had values ranging from 0 to 4.4 μg m−3 (