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Review of Air Exchange Rate Models for Air Pollution Exposure Assessments
Citation:
Breen, M., Brad Schultz, M. Sohn, T. Long, J. Langstaff, R. Williams, K. Isaacs, Q. Meng, C. Stallings, AND L. Smith. Review of Air Exchange Rate Models for Air Pollution Exposure Assessments. Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology . Nature Publishing Group, London, Uk, 24(6):555-563, (2014).
Impact/Purpose:
The National Exposure Research Laboratory′s (NERL′s) Human Exposure and Atmospheric Sciences Division (HEASD) conducts research in support of EPA′s mission to protect human health and the environment. HEASD′s research program supports Goal 1 (Clean Air) and Goal 4 (Healthy People) of EPA′s strategic plan. More specifically, our division conducts research to characterize the movement of pollutants from the source to contact with humans. Our multidisciplinary research program produces Methods, Measurements, and Models to identify relationships between and characterize processes that link source emissions, environmental concentrations, human exposures, and target-tissue dose. The impact of these tools is improved regulatory programs and policies for EPA.
Description:
A critical aspect of air pollution exposure assessments is estimation of the air exchange rate (AER) for various buildings, where people spend their time. The AER, which is rate the exchange of indoor air with outdoor air, is an important determinant for entry of outdoor air pollutants and for removal of indoor-emitted air pollutants. This paper presents an overview and critical analysis of the scientific literature on empirical and physical AER models for residential and commercial buildings, which are feasible for exposure assessments. Models are included for the three types of airflows that can occur across building envelopes: leakage, natural ventilation, and mechanical ventilation. Guidance is provided to select the preferable AER model based on available data, desired temporal resolution, types of airflows, and types of buildings included in the exposure assessment. For exposure assessments with some limited building leakage or AER measurements, strategies are described to reduce AER model uncertainty. This review will facilitate the selection of AER models in support of air pollution exposure assessments.
URLs/Downloads:
FINAL FINAL AER_MODEL_REVIEW.PDF (PDF, NA pp, 193.325 KB, about PDF)Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology
