کد مقاله کد نشریه سال انتشار مقاله انگلیسی نسخه تمام متن
4429238 1619817 2012 9 صفحه PDF دانلود رایگان
عنوان انگلیسی مقاله ISI
Respirable antimony and other trace-elements inside and outside an elementary school in Flagstaff, AZ, USA
موضوعات مرتبط
علوم زیستی و بیوفناوری علوم محیط زیست شیمی زیست محیطی
پیش نمایش صفحه اول مقاله
Respirable antimony and other trace-elements inside and outside an elementary school in Flagstaff, AZ, USA
چکیده انگلیسی

Because people spend almost 90% of their time indoors, ambient air monitors may severely underestimate actual exposure to atmospheric particulate matter (PM). Therefore, it becomes increasingly important to better understand the microenvironments where people are spending their time. For preadolescent children, the best estimates of exposure may be inside of their school. In this study, 11 size fractions of PM were collected inside and outside of an elementary school in Flagstaff, AZ, USA. In particles < 1 μm (PM1), the total mass indoors was similar to the mass outdoors (indoor:outdoor, I:O, ratio = 0.92 ± 0.16). In the PM1-10 fraction, however, the mass concentration inside the school was highly elevated relative to outside the school (I:O ratios = 13 ± 3). Mass concentrations of 27 elements were analyzed by ICP-MS. For all metals except for antimony (Sb), the PM1 and PM1-10 I:O ratios are found to be similar to the overall PM mass (near 1 and 13, respectively). In addition, indoor and outdoor particle size distributions reveal a crustal character for every element except Cu, Zn, Pb, and Sb. Therefore, we hypothesize that most of the PM mass inside the school is a result of transport from outside the school followed by resuspension from floors and clothing. In the PM1 fraction, the indoor mass of Sb was 86 times greater than the outdoor mass and had an air concentration of 17 ng m− 3 — greater than many urban areas around the world. Cu:Sb ratios and size distribution functions suggest that the excess source of PM1 indoor Sb results from the suspension of embedded Sb (used as a flame retardant) in the carpeting. This is the first study to observe elevated submicron Sb in schools and further studies are required to determine if this is a widespread health risk.


► Atmospheric particulate matter (PM) was collected inside and outside an elementary school.
► Size-resolved trace metal and mass concentrations were measured.
► Indoor / Outdoor ratios of PM mass were very large for particles larger than 1 µm and about unity for particles  < 1 µm.
► Most of the metal mass was found to originate from crustal sources.
► Highly elevated levels of antimony were measured – most likely from the resuspension of Sb embedded in carpeting.

ناشر
Database: Elsevier - ScienceDirect (ساینس دایرکت)
Journal: Science of The Total Environment - Volumes 435–436, 1 October 2012, Pages 253–261
نویسندگان
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