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PENETRATION OF AMBIENT FINE PARTICLES INTO INDOOR ENVIRONMENTS (INDOOR ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT BRANCH, AIR POLLUTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL DIVISION, NRMRL)
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Because recent studies have indicated significant health risks associated with exposure to fine particles, there is renewed interest in fine particle concentrations indoors and their relationship to particles in the outdoors. Understanding this relationship is especially important because most of the exposure in the studies mentioned occurred indoors while the measured particle concentrations were obtained from ambient monitoring stations. The inference has been made that the concentration of fine partcles indoors that originated outdoors is comparable with the outdoor concentration. The primary objective of the study described here is to determine whether this is a reasonable inference. Understanding mechanisms of entry into buildings will be critical to understanding the controllability of indoor exposures to fine PM. This study has two components: (1) laboratory measurements and (2) field/test-house measurements. The initial emphasis is placed on laboratory studies of entry mechanisms that provide the degree of control needed to validate mathematical models. For further details regarding this study, visit the website at http://www.epa.gov/appcdwww/crb/iemb/fine.htm. To access directly from this website, click on downloads on the navigation bar.