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Airborne Particulate Matter in School Classrooms of Northern Italy
Indoor size-fractioned particulate matter (PM) was measured in seven schools in Milan, to characterize their concentration levels in classrooms, compare the measured concentrations with the recommended guideline values, and provide a preliminary assessment of the efficacy of the intervention measure...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2014
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Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3945545/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24473114 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph110201398 |
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author | Rovelli, Sabrina Cattaneo, Andrea Nuzzi, Camilla P. Spinazzè, Andrea Piazza, Silvia Carrer, Paolo Cavallo, Domenico M. |
author_facet | Rovelli, Sabrina Cattaneo, Andrea Nuzzi, Camilla P. Spinazzè, Andrea Piazza, Silvia Carrer, Paolo Cavallo, Domenico M. |
author_sort | Rovelli, Sabrina |
collection | PubMed |
description | Indoor size-fractioned particulate matter (PM) was measured in seven schools in Milan, to characterize their concentration levels in classrooms, compare the measured concentrations with the recommended guideline values, and provide a preliminary assessment of the efficacy of the intervention measures, based on the guidelines developed by the Italian Ministry of Healthand applied to mitigate exposure to undesirable air pollutants. Indoor sampling was performed from Monday morning to Friday afternoon in three classrooms of each school and was repeated in winter 2011–2012 and 2012–2013. Simultaneously, PM(2.5 )samples were also collected outdoors. Two different photometers were used to collect the PM continuous data, which were corrected a posteriori using simultaneous gravimetric PM(2.5) measurements. Furthermore, the concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO(2)) were monitored and used to determine the Air Exchange Rates in the classrooms. The results revealed poor IAQ in the school environment. In several cases, the PM(2.5) and PM(10) 24 h concentrations exceeded the 24 h guideline values established by the World Health Organization (WHO). In addition, the indoor CO(2) levels often surpassed the CO(2) ASHRAE Standard. Our findings confirmed that important indoor sources (human movements, personal clouds, cleaning activities) emitted coarse particles, markedly increasing the measured PM during school hours. In general, the mean PM(2.5) indoor concentrations were lower than the average outdoor PM(2.5) levels, with I/O ratios generally <1. Fine PM was less affected by indoor sources, exerting a major impact on the PM(1)(–2.5) fraction. Over half of the indoor fine particles were estimated to originate from outdoors. To a first approximation, the intervention proposed to reduce indoor particle levels did not seem to significantly influence the indoor fine PM concentrations. Conversely, the frequent opening of doors and windows appeared to significantly contribute to the reduction of the average indoor CO(2) levels. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-3945545 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2014 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-39455452014-03-10 Airborne Particulate Matter in School Classrooms of Northern Italy Rovelli, Sabrina Cattaneo, Andrea Nuzzi, Camilla P. Spinazzè, Andrea Piazza, Silvia Carrer, Paolo Cavallo, Domenico M. Int J Environ Res Public Health Indoor size-fractioned particulate matter (PM) was measured in seven schools in Milan, to characterize their concentration levels in classrooms, compare the measured concentrations with the recommended guideline values, and provide a preliminary assessment of the efficacy of the intervention measures, based on the guidelines developed by the Italian Ministry of Healthand applied to mitigate exposure to undesirable air pollutants. Indoor sampling was performed from Monday morning to Friday afternoon in three classrooms of each school and was repeated in winter 2011–2012 and 2012–2013. Simultaneously, PM(2.5 )samples were also collected outdoors. Two different photometers were used to collect the PM continuous data, which were corrected a posteriori using simultaneous gravimetric PM(2.5) measurements. Furthermore, the concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO(2)) were monitored and used to determine the Air Exchange Rates in the classrooms. The results revealed poor IAQ in the school environment. In several cases, the PM(2.5) and PM(10) 24 h concentrations exceeded the 24 h guideline values established by the World Health Organization (WHO). In addition, the indoor CO(2) levels often surpassed the CO(2) ASHRAE Standard. Our findings confirmed that important indoor sources (human movements, personal clouds, cleaning activities) emitted coarse particles, markedly increasing the measured PM during school hours. In general, the mean PM(2.5) indoor concentrations were lower than the average outdoor PM(2.5) levels, with I/O ratios generally <1. Fine PM was less affected by indoor sources, exerting a major impact on the PM(1)(–2.5) fraction. Over half of the indoor fine particles were estimated to originate from outdoors. To a first approximation, the intervention proposed to reduce indoor particle levels did not seem to significantly influence the indoor fine PM concentrations. Conversely, the frequent opening of doors and windows appeared to significantly contribute to the reduction of the average indoor CO(2) levels. MDPI 2014-01-27 2014-02 /pmc/articles/PMC3945545/ /pubmed/24473114 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph110201398 Text en © 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). |
spellingShingle | Rovelli, Sabrina Cattaneo, Andrea Nuzzi, Camilla P. Spinazzè, Andrea Piazza, Silvia Carrer, Paolo Cavallo, Domenico M. Airborne Particulate Matter in School Classrooms of Northern Italy |
title | Airborne Particulate Matter in School Classrooms of Northern Italy |
title_full | Airborne Particulate Matter in School Classrooms of Northern Italy |
title_fullStr | Airborne Particulate Matter in School Classrooms of Northern Italy |
title_full_unstemmed | Airborne Particulate Matter in School Classrooms of Northern Italy |
title_short | Airborne Particulate Matter in School Classrooms of Northern Italy |
title_sort | airborne particulate matter in school classrooms of northern italy |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3945545/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24473114 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph110201398 |
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