Daycare centers (DCCs) are where infants and toddlers (0-4 years old) spend the most time besides their homes. Given their higher susceptibility to the effects of air pollutants, as compared to older children and adults, indoor air quality (IAQ) is regarded as an essential parameter to monitor in DCCs. Recent advances in IAQ monitoring technologies have enabled the deployment of low-cost air quality monitors (LCMs) and single sensors (LCSs) to continuously monitor various indoor environments, and their performance testing should also be performed in the intended indoor applications. To our knowledge, there is no study evaluating the application of LCMs/LCSs in DCCs scenarios yet. Therefore, this study is aimed to assess the response of five types of LCMs (previously not tested) and five LCSs to typical DCCs emission activities in detecting multiple IAQ parameters, i.e., particulate matter, carbon dioxide, total volatile organic compounds, temperature, and relative humidity. These LCMs/LCSs were compared to outcomes from research-grade instruments (RGIs). All the experiments were performed in a climate chamber, where three kinds of typical activities (background; arts-and-crafts; cleaning; [in a total of 32 events]) were simulated by recruited subjects at two typical indoor climatic conditions (cool and dry [20 ± 1 °C & 40 ± 10%], warm and humid [26 ± 1 °C & 70 ± 5%]). Results showed that tested LCMs had the ability to capture DCCs activities by simultaneously monitoring multiple IAQ parameters, and LCMs/LCSs revealed a strong correlation with RGIs in most events (R values from 0.7 to 1), but, for some events, the magnitude of responses varied widely. Sensirion SCD41, an emerging CO sensor built on the photoacoustic sensing principle, had a more accurate performance than all tested NDIR-based CO sensors/monitors. In general, the study implies that the selection of LCMs/LCSs for a specific application of interest should be based on emission characteristics and space conditions.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2022.107372 | DOI Listing |
J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol
January 2025
Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Joe C. Wen School of Population & Public Health, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA.
Background: Children living in communities with lower socioeconomic status and higher minority populations are often disproportionately exposed to particulate matter (PM) compared to children living in other communities.
Objective: We assessed whether adding HEPA filter air cleaners to classrooms with existing HVAC systems reduces indoor air pollution exposure.
Methods: From July 2022 to June 2023, using a block randomized crossover trial of 17 Los Angeles Unified School District elementary schools, classroom PM concentrations were monitored and compared for 99 classrooms with HEPA filter air cleaners and 87 classrooms with non-HEPA filter air cleaners.
Environ Res
January 2025
Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China; CAS Key Laboratory of Renewable Energy, Guangzhou 510640, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of High-Quality Recycling of End-of-Life New Energy Devices, Guangzhou 510640, China. Electronic address:
Hydrogen sulfide (HS) is a major air pollutant posing a serious threat to both the environment and public health. In this study, a novel nitrogen-rich biocarbon that effectively removes HS was produced from a mixture of sewage sludge and pine sawdust using melamine as nitrogen source. Compared with pristine biocarbons, nitrogen (N)-doped biocarbons possessed an adjustable porosity, e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Res
January 2025
Henan Key Laboratory of Air Pollution Control and Ecological Security, Henan University, Kaifeng, Henan, 475004, China; Key Laboratory of Geospatial Technology for the Middle and Lower Yellow River Regions, Ministry of Education, Henan University, Kaifeng, Henan, 475004, China. Electronic address:
Dust aerosols significantly impact climate, human health, and ecosystems, but how land cover (LC) changes influence dust concentrations remains unclear. Here, we applied the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) to assess the effects of LC changes on dust aerosol concentrations from 2000 to 2020 in northern China. Based on LC data derived from multi-source satellite remote sensing data, we conducted two simulation scenarios: one incorporating actual annual LC changes and another assuming static LC since 2000.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Res
January 2025
School of Public Health, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430065, China. Electronic address:
Background: Although the association of short-term ozone and heatwave exposure with cerebrovascular disease has been well documented, it remains largely unknown whether their co-exposure could synergistically trigger ischemic stroke (IS) mortality.
Methods: We performed an individual-level, time-stratified case-crossover analysis utilizing province-wide IS deaths (n =59079) in warm seasons (May-September) during 2016-2019, across Jiangsu, eastern China. Heatwave was defined according to a combination of multiple temperature thresholds (90-97.
Environ Res
January 2025
Tianjin Key Laboratory of Urban Transport Emission Research & State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Urban Ambient Air Particulate Matter Pollution Prevention and Control, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071.
Tire wear particles (TWPs) are considered the one of most significant non-exhaust particle emission sources from vehicles. However, there is a lack of research on the emission characteristics of TWPs based on typical driving information. In this work, we used a high-dynamic outside wheel test platform to conduct tire wear tests on multiple types of tires based on a novel test cycle and comprehensively analyzed the differences in their emission characteristics while considering various factors, such as front/rear tire and tire type.
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