Effects of heating season on residential indoor and outdoor polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, black carbon, and particulate matter in an urban birth cohort

Exposure to air pollutants has been associated with adverse health effects. However, analyses of the effects of season and ambient parameters such as ozone have not been fully conducted. Residential indoor and outdoor air levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), black carbon (measured as absorption coefficient [Abs]), and fine particulate matter <2.5 μm (PM)2.5 were measured over two-weeks in a cohort of 5–6 year old children (n = 334) living in New York City’s Northern Manhattan and the Bronx between October 2005 and April 2010. The objectives were to: 1) characterize seasonal changes in indoor and outdoor levels and indoor/outdoor (I/O) ratios of PAH (gas + particulate phase; dichotomized into ∑8PAHsemivolatile (MW 178–206), and ∑8PAHnonvolatile (MW 228–278)), Abs, and PM2.5; and 2) assess the relationship between PAH and ozone. Results showed that heating compared to nonheating season was associated with greater ∑8PAHnonvolatile (p < 0.001) and Abs (p < 0.05), and lower levels of ∑8PAHsemivolatile (p < 0.001). In addition, the heating season was associated with lower I/O ratios of ∑8PAHnonvolatile and higher I/O ratios of ∑8PAHsemivolatile (p < 0.001) compared to the nonheating season. In outdoor air, ∑8PAHnonvolatile was correlated negatively with community-wide ozone concentration (p < 0.001). Seasonal changes in emission sources, air exchanges, meteorological conditions and photochemical/chemical degradation reactions are discussed in relationship to the observed seasonal trends.