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©2007Springer.PARTICLEEXPOSURETHROUGHTHEINDOORAIRENVIRONMENTGYULADURA∗andBRIGITTASZALAYInstituteofEnvironmentalHealth,Gyaliut2-6,Budapest1097,HungaryAbstract:Sources,exposureandmeasuringtechniquesforindoorparticulatematters(PM)areoverviewed.Toevaluateindoorairqualityintwosubwaysta-tionsinBudapest,concentrationsofPM10,PM2.5andtotalsuspendedparticu-lates(TSP)weremeasuredduringa5-dayperiodinapreliminarystudy.Thefollowingresultswerefound:PM10pollutionwas2–3timeshigherinthemetrostationthaninmatchedsamplinginthestreet.ThelevelsofPM2.5weremuchless.PMpollutionlevelwasnotinfluencedbythedepthoftheplatforms.Keywords:indoorenvironment,particulatematter,exposure,PMonsubway1.IntroductionItiswellknownthatairqualityhasasignificantimpactonhumanhealth.Wecandrinkbottledwaterifpipedwatercontainstoomuchchlorine.Wecanselecthigher-qualityfood,so-calledbio-productscurrentlyonthemarket,ifweareafraidofchemicalresiduals.However,wecannotchoosetheairwebreathe.Wespendalargepartofourlifeindoors,athome,orotherpublicenviron-ments,suchasschoolsorrestaurants.Havingcleanindoorairisveryimportantforthehealthofthepopulationasawholeanditbecomesparticularlyimpor-tantforinfants,childrenandtheelderlyorpeoplepredisposedtodisease,parti-cularlyrespiratoryorcardiovasculardiseases.Thepublichealthsignificanceofindoorairpollutants,includingparticulatematter(PM),isstudiedworldwideandscientificevidenceshowsasignificantimpactonthehealthofthepopulation().Environmentaltobaccosmoke(ETS),combustionproducts,volatileorganiccompoundsandbiologicalpollutantsareallresponsiblefor,orincreasingrespiratorydiseasesandinsomecases,cardiovasculardiseases∗Towhomcorrespondenceshouldbeaddressed.FodorJozsefNationalCentreforPublicHealth,National()P.P.Simeonovaetal.eds.,Nanotechnology–ToxicologicalIssuesandEnvironmentalSafety,271–276.271PARTICLESANDTHEINDOORAIRENVIRONMENT272(Gamble,1998).Whenexposuresaresufficienttocauseacutehealtheffectsinapopulation(asmayoccurincertainaccidentalcatastrophes)causalrela-tionshipsareeasiertodemonstrate.However,low-levelexposureenviron-mentaloroccupationalexposureisdifficulttoinvestigate.Inprinciple,therearetwobasicapproachescommonlyusedtoaddressindoorairissues.Themostobviousistoreduceindoorexposuretoknownairpollutantsforwhichhealthimpactshavebeenestablishedorarestronglysuspected.Thesecondistopromoteinvestigationsaimedatabetterunderstandingtheexposure–healtheffectrelationshipinordertosupportpolicydevelopmentandimplementation(WHO/Euro,2006).RegardingPM,wehavetoreducesourcesofemissionsortakemeasures,suchasoptimizingbuildingdesignandventilation,tokeepindoorconcentrationsofpollutantsaslowaspossible.Thereisalsoaneedtoconductinvestigationsonthesource,hazard,exposureandeffectofdifferenttypesofairborneparticlesandinformingthepopulationsatriskonbehavioursthatminimizesexposure.ThisstrategyisalreadyfollowedbymanynationalandinternationalorganizationssuchasWHOandEU.2.SourcesofIndoorPMThemajorindoorsourceoffine-particleexposure,besidessmoking,iscooking,particularlyfromfryingandbroiling.Forultra-fineparticles,gas-burners,gasovens,andelectrictoastersarealsoimportantpointsources(OttandSiegmann2006).Othersourcesofindoorsairpolluatantsarederivedfromtheday-to-dayactivitiesofhumansanddosmesticanimals,aswellashandlingoforganicmaterialslikefirewood.Biologicalparticlesthathavesettledindoors,alongwithotherparticulatematter,maybecomeresuspendedintotheambientairthroughnormalhouseholdactivitiesandothermechanicaldisturbances.Therelativeimportanceofthesesourcesdependsontheenvironmentandlifestyleoftheoccupants.Particlespresentintheindoorenvironmentmayalsobeboundtosurfaces,attachedtodustaccumulatedinthebuilding,orpresentininternalpartsofthebuildingstructureortheiroperatingsystem,suchasair-condi-tioningunits,andducts(MorawskaandSalthammer2003).Besidesactiveindoorsources,particlesgeneratedbyoutdoorsourcescanpenetratefromoutdoorintoindooraireitherthroughopenwindowsordoors,orthroughcracks,gasorholesinthebuildingenvelope.Particledepositiononindoorsurfacesisrelatedtoparticlesizeandsurfacecharacteristics,withroughsurfacesresultinginhigherdepositionthansmoothones.Thedepositingparti-clescontributetothesurfaceaccumulation,andthustheprocessofdepositioncanalsobedescribedintermsofanincreaseindepositedmaterialsonthesur-faces.Thedepositionofhousedusthasbeenthesubjectofmanystudies.Thereisasignificantdifferenceintheroleofoutdoorair,asasourceofindoorparticles,comparedtotheroleofindoorsources.Indoorsources,whilePARTICLESANDTHEINDOORAIRENVIRONMENT273affectingoutdoorcharacteristicstovaryingdegrees,haveadirecteffectonlyinhousesinwhichtheyarepresent.SincethecharacteristicsofthesourcesandTheindoor/outdoor(I/O)relationshipformechanicallyventilatedbuildingsisevenmorecomplexthanthatfornaturallyventilatedbuildings.Themechani-callyventilatedbuildingsinvestigated,inmostcases,havebeennon-industrialworkplacesorpublicbuildings,suchasoffices,hospitals,restaurants,schools,shoppingcentersorpublictransportbuildings(Poupardetal.2005).Acommoncharacteristicofindoor