Investigations into factors affecting personal exposure to particles in urban microenvironments using low-cost sensors

Epidemiological studies have linked outdoor PM 2.5 concentrations to a range of health effects, although people spend most of the time indoors. To better understand how individuals’ exposure vary as they move between different indoor and outdoor microenvironments, our study investigated personal PM 2.5 exposure and exposure intensity of 14 adult volunteers over one week (five weekdays and one weekend), using low-cost personal monitors, recording PM 2.5 concentrations in 5 min intervals. Further, the study evaluated community perception of air pollution exposure during the recruitment and engagement with the volunteers. We found that people with tertiary education across all ages had greater interest in participating, with younger people being interested regardless of the level of education. The derived exposures and exposure intensities differed between weekdays and the weekend due to larger variations in individuals’ daily routines. In general, time spent at home and engaged in indoor activities was associated with the highest personal PM 2.5 exposure and exposure intensity on both, week and weekend days, implying the significance of both duration of the exposure and the indoor PM 2.5 concentrations. The results showed no relationship between personal exposures and indoor characteristics of home (ventilation, building age and cooktop), which are expected to be due to the study's small sample size. The observed PM 2.5 > 10 μg m−3 were significantly higher for distances <50 m to the roads for both major and minor roads, and were observed in areas with <16% open space, which were also close to a major road.