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NATIONAL HUMAN ACTIVITY PATTERN SURVEY (NHAPS): USE OF NATIONWIDE ACTIVITY DATA FOR HUMAN EXPOSURE ASSESSMENT
Description:
The National Human Activity Pattern Survey (NHAPS) was initiated to fill a need for updated activity information on a nationwide scale. Several recent exposure field monitoring studies have shown that human activities play a critical role in explaining the variation in human exposure because they impact the frequency, duration, and intensity of exposure to pollutants. Currently, activity pattern data bases with adequate potential pollutant exposure information are available only for a few cities (Cincinnati, Denver, Washington, DC) or a state (California), and only for limited months of the year. The NHAPS, which began in September, 1992, was a two-year probability-based national telephone interview survey of approximately 10,000 persons. The study was conducted by the University of Maryland Survey Research Center and was assisted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to ascertain the time, location, and other characteristics of those activities which were most relevant to estimating pollutant exposure. The survey design, location and activity codes, data examples, and appropriate analyses are described for NHAPS database. Time-diary data from this survey will provide standardized activity reports which, when available in early 1995, will be used to refine current human exposure models. Activity diary data have been effectively used in the following types of analyses: descriptive, relational, temporal, and exposure modeling. Examples of these analyses will be discussed and illustrated with data from previous activity surveys, including the recently available California survey. The applicability of these previous analyses to the New NHAPS data will be emphasized.
