Personal Monitoring for Air Pollution Exposure Philip M. Fine, Ph.D. Atmospheric Measurements Manager South Coast Air Quality Management District CAPCOA Health Conference, Carson, CA, September 19-20, 2007

Ambient Monitoring Central, fixed sites Network designed to represent general population exposure to outdoor pollution across region Does not address an individual’s exposure to air pollution

Ambient Monitoring

Indoor vs. Outdoor Pollution penetration indoors varies by pollutant Indoor sources and removal

Activity Patterns - Microenvironments Home Outdoor Workplace Commute

Personal Exposure vs. Central Site Chang et al., 2000 JAWMA 50(7)

Personal Exposure vs. Central Site Chang et al., 2000 JAWMA 50(7)

Why Personal Monitoring? Occupational settings Epidemiological studies Exposure assessment studies Exposure modeling validation

Personal Air Pollution Monitors Most technologies developed for occupational settings Detection limits tend to be higher Various criteria and toxic pollutants available (VOC, Particulate Matter, CO, etc.) Active vs. passive Continuous vs. time-integrated

Passive Sampling - VOCs Small, low-cost, easy to use Time-integrated Relies on diffusion

Passive Samplers – Continuous Carbon Monoxide

Passive Sampling - PM No particle size cut Relies on diffusion Continuous data Often inaccurate

Active Samplers Personal Pumps Batteries, heavy, burdensome Often requires harness or backpack Allows for particle size cut-offs (PM10, PM2.5

Active Samplers

Active Sampler Pumps

Active Samplers - VOCs Simple to use Some analysis by color Time integrated or grab samples

Active Samplers – Time integrated PM Allows for multiple particle size cut-offs More comparable to ambient methods Chemical analysis possible

Active Samplers – Continuous PM Measures short-term variability of exposure Laser-based methods less comparable to ambient methods Back-up filter

Conclusions Personal air quality monitors are useful tools for very specific applications Continuous data is more useful to track variations in exposure in different microenvironments Regulations designed to reduce outdoor pollution at fixed sites will still tend to reduce personal exposure