Spatiotemporal variation in residential PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations in China: National on-site survey

Background: Significant efforts have been directed toward addressing the adverse health effects of particulate matter, while few data exist to evaluate indoor exposure nationwide in China. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate dwellings particulate matter levels in the twelve cities in China and provide large data support for policymakers to accelerate the legislative process. Methods: The current study was based on the CIEHS 2018 study and conducted in 12 cities of China. A total of 2128 air samples were collected from 610 residential households during the summer and winter. Both PM10 and PM2.5 were detected with a light-scattering dust meter in both the living room and bedroom. The Wilcoxon ranksum test was performed to evaluate the correlations between PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations and both sampling season and site. Ratios of the living room to bedroom were calculated to evaluate the particulate matter variation between rooms. Hierarchical clustering was used to probe the question of whether the concentration varies between cities throughout China. Results: The geometric means of the PM2.5 in living rooms and bedrooms were 39.80 and 36.55 mu g/m3 in the summer, and 70.97 and 67.99 mu g/m3 in the winter, respectively. In the summer, approximately 70 % of indoor dwelling PM2.5 exceeded the limit of 25 mu g/m3, and for PM10 approximately 60 % of dwellings demonstrated levels higher than 50 mu g/m3; the corresponding values were over 90 % and 80 % in winter, respectively. In Shijiazhuang, Lanzhou, Luoyang and Qingdao, the geometric means of the PM2.5 concentrations were observed to be 1.5 to 4.3 times higher during winter than during summer; similar concentrations in summer and winter were observed in Harbin, Wuxi, and Shenzhen, while the PM2.5 concentrations in Panjin were approximately 1.5 times higher in summer than in winter. There was no significant difference in particulate matter concentrations between the living rooms and bedrooms. Scatter plots showed that cities with low GDP and a small population had higher concentrations, while Shenzhen, which has a higher GDP and a large permanent population, had a relatively low concentration of particulate matter. Conclusions: Our results suggest that indoor air pollution is a severe problem in China. It is necessary to continue monitoring indoor air quality to observe the changing trend under the tremendous effort of the Chinese government.

Automated summary

This study investigated indoor particulate matter levels in twelve cities in China and found that both summer and winter concentrations exceeded limit values, with higher levels in winter. There were seasonal variations in different cities, with higher concentrations in cities with low GDP and smaller populations, while cities with higher GDP and larger populations had relatively lower concentrations.