Size Distribution, Bioaccessibility and Health Risks of Indoor/Outdoor Airborne Toxic Elements Collected from School Office Room

Abstract

20 sets of indoor and outdoor size-segregated aerosol (SSA) samples (180 foils) were collected synchronously by using two 8 Stage Non-Viable Cascade Impactor from an office room in the central region of the megacity-Nanjing, China in winter and spring in 2016. The mass size distribution of SSAs was bimodal for outdoor SSAs and unimodal for indoor in both winter and spring. The crustal elements, such as K, Ca, Mg and Fe, were mainly distributed in the coarse fractions of SSAs while toxic elements such as As, Cd, Pb and Sb were enriched more in the fine fractions in both winter and spring. Moreover, indoor/outdoor (I/O) concentration ratios of SSAs and inorganic elements indicated the penetration of outdoor fine fractions of SSAs into indoor air. As, Pb, V and Mn showed higher inhalation bioaccessibility extracted by the artificial lysosomal fluid (ALF); while V, As, Sr and Cd showed higher inhalation bioaccessibility using the simulated lung fluid (SLF), suggesting differences in elemental inhalation bioaccessibility between ALF and SLF extraction. There were similar potential carcinogenic and accumulative non-carcinogenic risks via inhalation exposure to indoor and outdoor particle-bound toxic elements based on their bioaccessible concentrations. Therefore, the potential health risks to human posed by toxic elements in office rooms cannot be neglected via inhalation exposure of the fine airborne particles.

Particle-induced oxidative damage by indoor size-segregated particulate matter from coal-burning homes in the Xuanwei lung cancer epidemic area, Yunnan Province, China

“…Opposite to all the other elements, Sr showed an obvious increasing trend with the particle sizes and higher values were concentrated in the large particle sizes. Tang et al, (2018) studied the office indoor air in Nanjing and found that Sr was concentrated in the particles larger than 5.8μm. Tan et al, (2016) also found the mass concentration of Sr was enriched in the particles larger than 2.7μm in a high pollution episode during winter in Beijing.…”

Assessing Pregnant Women's Exposure to Toxic Metals via Indoor Dust and Biological Monitoring in Urine

“…The road tra c around a house is an important factor in uencing the heavy metal concentrations in indoor dust (Lin et al 2015). The burdens of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn in areas with heavy tra c were reported signi cantly higher than those in other districts in Hong Kong, China (Tang et al 2018).…”

Indoor air pollutant health prioritization in office buildings

“…A database compiling indoor concentrations in office buildings was developed by including the results from 69 studies 19,21,25‐91 . Of these, 12 are reports from the French air quality monitoring network 55‐59,63‐67,70,71 .…”