Variability in the fraction of ambient fine particulate matter in indoor air and implications for air pollution epidemiology

TL;DRAbstract

Exposure to ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is associated with multiple negative health outcomes. Studies investigating these associations commonly use PM2.5 concentrations measured at outdoor, central-site monitors to estimate exposure. Because people spend the majority of time indoors, however, the variable efficiency with which ambient PM2.5 penetrates and persists indoors is a source of error in epidemiologic analyses. This error generally results in an underestimation of health effects, hampering the detection of associations between ambient PM2.5 exposures and the risk of health outcomes. To reduce this error, practical methods to model indoor concentrations of ambient PM2.5 are needed. This dissertation contributes to exposure science by advancing existing models of residential exposure to ambient PM2.5 and by improving the robustness and accessibility of these tools. First, drivers of variability in the fraction of ambient PM2.5 found indoors (F) are identified and the

Chat with Paper

AI Agents for this Paper