Real-Time Measurements of Indoor–Outdoor Exchange of Gaseous and Particulate Atmospheric Pollutants in an Urban Area

Elisabeth Alonso-Blanco (), Francisco Javier Gómez-Moreno, Elías Díaz-Ramiro, Javier Fernández, Esther Coz, Carlos Yagüe, Carlos Román-Cascón, Adolfo Narros, Rafael Borge and Begoña Artíñano
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Elisabeth Alonso-Blanco: Department of Environment, CIEMAT (Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas), 28040 Madrid, Spain
Francisco Javier Gómez-Moreno: Department of Environment, CIEMAT (Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas), 28040 Madrid, Spain
Elías Díaz-Ramiro: Department of Environment, CIEMAT (Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas), 28040 Madrid, Spain
Javier Fernández: Department of Environment, CIEMAT (Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas), 28040 Madrid, Spain
Esther Coz: Department of Environment, CIEMAT (Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas), 28040 Madrid, Spain
Carlos Yagüe: Department of Earth Physics and Astrophysics, Complutense University of Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Carlos Román-Cascón: Department of Applied Physics, Marine and Environmental Sciences Faculty, INMAR, CEIMAR, University of Cadiz, 11519 Puerto Real, Cádiz, Spain
Adolfo Narros: Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Madrid (UPM), 28006 Madrid, Spain
Rafael Borge: Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Madrid (UPM), 28006 Madrid, Spain
Begoña Artíñano: Department of Environment, CIEMAT (Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas), 28040 Madrid, Spain

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 19, 1-18

Abstract: Air pollution is one of the greatest environmental risks to health, causing millions of deaths and deleterious health effects worldwide, especially in urban areas where citizens are exposed to high ambient levels of pollutants, also influencing indoor air quality (IAQ). Many sources of indoor air are fairly obvious and well known, but the contribution of outside sources to indoor air still leads to significant uncertainties, in particular the influence that environmental variables have on outdoor/indoor pollutant exchange mechanisms. This is a critical aspect to consider in IAQ studies. In this respect, an experimental study was performed at a public site such as a university classroom during a non-academic period in Madrid city. This includes two field campaigns, in summer (2021) and winter (2020), where instruments for measuring gases and particle air pollutants simultaneously measured outdoor and indoor real-time concentrations. This study aimed to investigate the dynamic variations in the indoor/outdoor (I/O) ratios in terms of ambient outdoor conditions (meteorology, turbulence and air quality) and indoor features (human presence or natural ventilation). The results show that the I/O ratio is pollutant-dependent. In this sense, the infiltration capacity is higher for gaseous compounds, and in the case of particles, it depends on the particle size, with a higher infiltration capacity for smaller particles (Keywords: urban air pollutants; real-time I/O measurements; indoor air quality (IAQ); indoor activities; gaseous and particulate pollutants (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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