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An evaluation of the impact of flooring types on exposures to fine and coarse particles within the residential micro-environment using CONTAM

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 26, pages 86–94 (2016)Cite this article

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Abstract

Typical resuspension activities within the home, such as walking, have been estimated to contribute up to 25% of personal exposures to PM10. Chamber studies have shown that for moderate walking intensities, flooring type can impact the rate at which particles are re-entrained into the air. For this study, the impact of residential flooring type on incremental average daily (24 h) time-averaged exposure was investigated. Distributions of incremental time-averaged daily exposures to fine and coarse PM while walking within the residential micro-environment were predicted using CONTAM, the multizone airflow and contaminant transport program of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Knowledge of when and where a person was walking was determined by randomly selecting 490 daily diaries from the EPA’s consolidated human activity database (CHAD). On the basis of the results of this study, residential flooring type can significantly impact incremental time-averaged daily exposures to coarse and fine particles (α=0.05, P<0.05, N=490, Kruskal–Wallis test) with high-density cut pile carpeting resulting in the highest exposures. From this study, resuspension from walking within the residential micro-environment contributed 6–72% of time-averaged daily exposures to PM10.

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Acknowledgements

This research material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under Grant Number NYLHH0168-08 and the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) under Grant Number CBET 0846704. The contents of this article are the views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of HUD, NSF or the U.S. Government. Special thanks are also expressed to Dr. Andrew Persily and members of the Energy and Environment Division, Indoor Air Quality and Ventilation Group, National Institute of Technology and Standards (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical, Biological and Agricultural Engineering, University of Technology, Kingston, Jamaica

    Lisa Bramwell

  2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Clarkson University, Potsdam, New York, USA

    Jing Qian & Andrea R Ferro

  3. Dakota Consulting, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA

    Cynthia Howard-Reed

  4. Department of Mathematics, Clarkson University, Potsdam, New York, USA

    Sumona Mondal

Authors
  1. Lisa Bramwell
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  2. Jing Qian
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  3. Cynthia Howard-Reed
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  4. Sumona Mondal
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  5. Andrea R Ferro
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Correspondence to Lisa Bramwell.

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Supplementary Information accompanies the paper on the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology website

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Bramwell, L., Qian, J., Howard-Reed, C. et al. An evaluation of the impact of flooring types on exposures to fine and coarse particles within the residential micro-environment using CONTAM. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 26, 86–94 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2015.31

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