Journal
JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
Volume 403, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.123555
Keywords
Biomass Burning; Smoke Haze; Airborne Particles; Indoor Air Quality; Portable Air Cleaner; Air Conditioning System
Categories
Funding
- National Research Foundation (NRF), the Prime Minister's Office, Singapore, under its Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) program
- NRF [R-706-002-101-281]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The study investigated the mitigation of indoor human exposure to outdoor PM2.5 during the smoke haze episode in Singapore, finding that indoor air cleaners were more effective in reducing health risks compared to air conditioning systems. The findings could be beneficial for public health interventions during major air pollution events.
During the 2019 smoke haze episode in Singapore, elevated levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) were observed, deteriorating both ambient and indoor air quality (IAQ). We investigated the mitigation of indoor human exposure to PM2.5 of outdoor origin under diverse exposure scenarios with and without filtration of PM2.5 during both hazy and non-hazy days. The key objective of our study was to make a comparative evaluation of the effectiveness of portable air cleaners (PACs) and air conditioning (AC) systems equipped with particle filters in improving IAQ and to assess related long-term carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic health risks. We conducted real-time measurements of PM2.5, black carbon mass concentrations and particle number concentrations in both indoor and outdoor areas, quantified the relative concentrations of the water-soluble fraction of toxic trace elements in PM2.5 for health risk assessment, and estimated the levels of thermal comfort. In addition, we calculated the total estimated cost of indoor air pollution control. Our findings suggest that indoor air cleaners are more effective at mitigating human exposure to airborne particles and reducing health risk with less consumption of electricity and better cost-effectiveness compared to AC. This information would be beneficial for public health interventions during major air pollution events.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available