Indoor air quality and wildfire smoke impacts in the Pacific Northwest

Kirk, William M.; M, Fuchs; Huangfu, Yibo; Lima, Nathan; O'Keeffe, P.; Lin, Beiyu; Jobson, T.; Pressley, S. N.; Walden, Von P.; Cook, Diane J.; Lamb, Brian

doi:10.1080/23744731.2017.1393256

Cited by 20 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Selected responding locations, which included five residential, one school, and two commercial buildings, served as case studies. In comparison to previous surveys of wildfire impacts on IAQ (Barkjohn et al, 2021;Barn et al, 2008;Kirk et al, 2018;Reisen et 103 al., 2019), we examine a larger sample and more building types, but with less information on building characteristics and occupant behavior, and no examination of chemical composition of pollutants.…”

Section: Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 87%

“…(1) = + Barn et al (2008) examined Fin with and without high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtration in 21 British Columbia homes, with values during summer wildfires ranging from 0.19 with filtration to 0.61 without. Kirk et al (2018) examined two homes in the Pacific Northwest during a high fire occurrence summer and observed good correlations between indoor (I) and outdoor (O) PM2.5 concentrations but relatively low I/O ratios (0.10 -0.26). Fin and I/O ratios during smoke events are influenced by road proximity, building envelope, occupant behaviors, and indoor PM2.5…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Impact of Wildfire Smoke Events on Indoor Air Quality and Evaluation of a Low-cost Filtration Method

May

Dixon

Jaffe

2021

Aerosol Air Qual. Res.

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Increased wildland fire activity is producing extreme fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations impacting millions of people every year, especially in the western United States (US). Recommendations for limiting exposure to PM2.5 and associated adverse health outcomes focus on staying inside, closing windows and doors, and increasing filtration; however, relatively little is known about indoor air quality (IAQ) during major smoke events. Indoor and outdoor hourly PM2.5 (μg m -3 ) measurements from the publicly available PurpleAir sensor (PAS) network 19 were analyzed for 42 sites (26 residential, 6 school, 10 commercial) across the western US during 20 a September 2020 period of heavy wildfire smoke influence. The fraction of ambient PM2.5 that penetrates indoors and remains airborne (Fin), as well as the ratio (I/O) and correlation coefficient 22 (R 2 ) of indoor to outdoor PM2.5 concentrations, were lower in residential compared to commercial 23 and school buildings. Interventions to improve IAQ were highly influential in PM2.5 infiltration in 24 residential case studies, with multiple, continuously run filter units associated with lower Fin, I/O, 25 and R 2 . A low-cost PM2.5 filtration method consisting of a Minimum Efficiency Rating Value-13 (MERV-13) filter attached to a box fan is evaluated as an alternative for improving IAQ during wildland fire smoke events. The MERV-13 fan filter unit proved highly effective at reducing indoor PM2.5 and particles 0.3 -1.0 μm measured by PAS and a particle counter, respectively, 29 when recirculating air in a single room. Low-cost filtration methods can have significant benefit for filtering submicron smoke particles and may reduce exposure to PM2.5 during wildfire smoke events.

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Section: Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 87%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Wildfire Smoke Events on Indoor Air Quality and Evaluation of a Low-cost Filtration Method

May

Dixon

Jaffe

2021

Aerosol Air Qual. Res.

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“…In addition, both the performance of the individual Plantower 49‐55 and specifically the Plantower PMS3003 56‐60 have been widely studied. In previous work, researchers have deployed Alphasense O 3 sensors 61‐66 and have used them to measure indoor concentrations 67‐69 . It is important to calibrate air sensors, especially optical‐based PM 2.5 measurements, in the deployment location 43,70 .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Real‐time measurements of PM_2.5and ozone to assess the effectiveness of residential indoor air filtration in Shanghai homes

et al. 2020

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Portable air cleaners are increasingly used in polluted areas in an attempt to reduce human exposure; however, there has been limited work characterizing their effectiveness at reducing exposure. With this in mind, we recruited forty‐three children with asthma from suburban Shanghai and deployed air cleaners (with HEPA and activated carbon filters) in their bedrooms. During both 2‐week filtration and non‐filtration periods, low‐cost PM2.5 and O3 air monitors were used to measure pollutants indoors, outdoors, and for personal exposure. Indoor PM2.5 concentrations were reduced substantially with the use of air cleaners, from 34 ± 17 to 10 ± 8 µg/m3, with roughly 80% of indoor PM2.5 estimated to come from outdoor sources. Personal exposure to PM2.5 was reduced from 40 ± 17 to 25 ± 14 µg/m3. The more modest reductions in personal exposure and high contribution of outdoor PM2.5 to indoor concentrations highlight the need to reduce outdoor PM2.5 and/or to clean indoor air in multiple locations. Indoor O3 concentrations were generally low (mean = 8±4 ppb), and no significant difference was seen by filtration status. The concentrations of pollutants and the air cleaner effectiveness were highly variable over time and across homes, highlighting the usefulness of real‐time air monitors for understanding individual exposure reduction strategies.

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“…These studies suggest indoor PM 2.5 concentrations are lower than outdoor concentrations during smoke events, but this relationship depends on building features (windows open/closed; heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems; etc) and occupant activity (i.e. cooking) (Mott et al 2002, Henderson et al 2005, Barn et al 2008, Kirk et al 2018, Reisen et al 2019, Shrestha et al 2019, Liang et al 2021, May et al 2021, Xiang et al 2021. However, there is large heterogeneity in both smoke events and indoor environments potentially impacted by wildfire smoke.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Outside in: the relationship between indoor and outdoor particulate air quality during wildfire smoke events in western US cities

O’Dell

Ford

Burkhardt

et al. 2022

Environ. Res.: Health

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Previous research on the health and air quality impacts of wildfire smoke has largely focused on the impact of smoke on outdoor air quality; however, many people spend a majority of their time indoors. The quality of indoor air on smoke-impacted days is largely unknown. In this analysis, we use publicly available data from an existing large network of low-cost indoor and outdoor fine particulate matter (PM2.5) monitors to quantify the relationship between indoor and outdoor particulate air quality on smoke-impacted days in 2020 across the western United States (US). We also investigate possible regional and socioeconomic trends in this relationship for regions surrounding six major cities in the western US. We find indoor PM2.5 concentrations are 82% or 4.2 µg m-3 (median across all western US indoor monitors for the year 2020; IQR: 2.0-7.2 µg m-3) higher on smoke-impacted days compared to smoke-free days. Indoor/outdoor PM2.5 ratios show variability by region, particularly on smoke-free days. However, we find the ratio of indoor/outdoor PM2.5 is less than 1 (i.e., indoor concentrations lower than outdoor) at nearly all indoor-outdoor monitor pairs on smoke-impacted days. Although typically lower than outdoor concentrations on smoke-impacted days, we find that on heavily smoke-impacted days (outdoor PM2.5 > 55 µg m-3), indoor PM2.5 concentrations can exceed the 35 µg m-3 24 hour outdoor standard set by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Further, total daily-mean indoor PM2.5 concentrations increase by 2.1 µg m-3 with every 10 µg m-3 increase in daily-mean outdoor PM2.5. (median of statistically significant linear regression slopes across all western US monitor pairs; IQR: 1.0-4.3 µg m-3) on smoke-impacted days. These results show that for indoor environments in the western US included in our analysis, remaining indoors during smoke events is currently an effective, but limited, strategy to reduce PM2.5 exposure.

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Indoor air quality and wildfire smoke impacts in the Pacific Northwest

Cited by 20 publications

References 9 publications

Impact of Wildfire Smoke Events on Indoor Air Quality and Evaluation of a Low-cost Filtration Method

Impact of Wildfire Smoke Events on Indoor Air Quality and Evaluation of a Low-cost Filtration Method

Real‐time measurements of PM_2.5and ozone to assess the effectiveness of residential indoor air filtration in Shanghai homes

Outside in: the relationship between indoor and outdoor particulate air quality during wildfire smoke events in western US cities

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Indoor air quality and wildfire smoke impacts in the Pacific Northwest

Cited by 20 publications

References 9 publications

Impact of Wildfire Smoke Events on Indoor Air Quality and Evaluation of a Low-cost Filtration Method

Impact of Wildfire Smoke Events on Indoor Air Quality and Evaluation of a Low-cost Filtration Method

Real‐time measurements of PM2.5and ozone to assess the effectiveness of residential indoor air filtration in Shanghai homes

Outside in: the relationship between indoor and outdoor particulate air quality during wildfire smoke events in western US cities

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Real‐time measurements of PM_2.5and ozone to assess the effectiveness of residential indoor air filtration in Shanghai homes