Particle Exposure Assessment for Community Elderly (PEACE) in Tianjin, China: Mass concentration relationships

Particle Exposure Assessment for Community Elderly (PEACE) in Tianjin, China was to characterize personal PM10 exposure, and provide data support for an epidemiological study investigating potential health effects of PM pollution on Chinese elderly population. In this study, a total of 80 elderly participants were recruited for a two-consecutive-day personal exposure measurement, and simultaneously residential indoor, residential outdoor and community PM10 were monitored in the summer and winter of 2009. Personal PM10 concentrations were 192.8 ± 100.6 μg m−3 in summer and 154.6 ± 105.4 μg m−3 in winter. Modeled personal exposures were less than measured personal exposures while a high coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.71 was obtained. Based on measured and modeled exposures, a mean personal cloud of 30.2 μg m−3 was estimated in summer and 16.5 μg m−3 in winter. Moderate correlation emerged between personal and community PM10 concentrations in summer (r = 0.39), and stronger correlation was found in winter (r = 0.82). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) shown that smoking, cooking and cleaning activities did not produce significant effect on personal exposures. Further more, multivariate regression analysis performed in this study revealed that community PM10 level contributed most of personal PM10 exposure, 32% in summer and 64% in winter, respectively. The findings of this study indicated that PM10 personal exposures were considerably influenced by outdoor particulate matter rather than typical indoor sources, and ambient PM10 level measured at community monitoring sites may be used as a surrogate of personal exposure to PM10.