a Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation Oceans and Atmosphere, Climate Science Centre , Aspendale , Victoria , Australia.
b School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine , Monash University , Melbourne , Victoria , Australia.
J Air Waste Manag Assoc. 2019 May;69(5):611-622. doi: 10.1080/10962247.2019.1567623. Epub 2019 Feb 27.
Bushfires, prescribed burns, and residential wood burning are significant sources of fine particles (aerodynamic diameter <2.5 μm; PM) affecting the health and well-being of many communities. Despite the lack of evidence, a common public health recommendation is to remain indoors, assuming that the home provides a protective barrier against ambient PM. The study aimed to assess to what extent houses provide protection against peak concentrations of outdoor PM and whether remaining indoors is an effective way of reducing exposure to PM. The effectiveness of this strategy was evaluated by conducting simultaneous week-long indoor and outdoor measurements of PM at 21 residences in regional areas of Victoria, Australia. During smoke plume events, remaining indoors protected residents from peak outdoor PM concentrations, but the level of protection was highly variable, ranging from 12% to 76%. Housing stock (e.g., age of the house) and ventilation (e.g., having windows/doors open or closed) played a significant role in the infiltration of outdoor PM indoors. The results also showed that leaving windows and doors closed once the smoke plume abates trapped PM indoors and increased indoor exposure to PM. Furthermore, for approximately 50% of households, indoor sources such as cooking activities, smoking, and burning candles or incense contributed significantly to indoor PM. Implications: Smoke from biomass burning sources can significantly impact on communities. Remaining indoors with windows and doors closed is a common recommendation by health authorities to minimize exposures to peak concentrations of fine particles during smoke plume events. Findings from this study have shown that the protection from fine particles in biomass burning smoke is highly variable among houses, with information on housing age and ventilation status providing an approximate assessment on the protection of a house. Leaving windows closed once a smoke plume abates traps particles indoors and increases exposures.
林火、计划火烧和居民木柴燃烧是影响许多社区健康和福祉的细颗粒物（空气动力学直径<2.5μm；PM）的重要来源。尽管缺乏证据，但公众健康的一个常见建议是待在室内，假设住宅能提供一个抵御环境 PM 的保护屏障。本研究旨在评估房屋在多大程度上能防止室外 PM 峰值浓度的进入，以及待在室内是否是减少 PM 暴露的有效方法。通过在澳大利亚维多利亚州的 21 个地区住宅同时进行为期一周的室内和室外 PM 测量，评估了这一策略的有效性。在烟雾羽流事件期间，待在室内能使居民免受室外 PM 峰值浓度的影响，但保护程度差异很大，范围在 12%到 76%之间。房屋存量（例如，房屋的年龄）和通风情况（例如，窗户/门的打开或关闭）对室外 PM 渗透到室内起着重要作用。研究结果还表明，一旦烟雾羽流消散后关闭窗户和门，会将 PM 困在室内，增加室内 PM 暴露量。此外，对于大约 50%的家庭，烹饪活动、吸烟、燃烧蜡烛或熏香等室内来源对室内 PM 有显著贡献。 影响：生物质燃烧源产生的烟雾会对社区产生重大影响。在烟雾羽流事件期间，健康当局建议尽量减少暴露在细颗粒物峰值浓度下，这是一种常见的建议，即关闭窗户和门待在室内。本研究的结果表明，在生物质燃烧烟雾中，从细颗粒物中获得的保护在房屋之间差异很大，有关房屋年龄和通风状况的信息可以对房屋的保护情况进行大致评估。一旦烟雾羽流消散后关闭窗户，会将粒子困在室内，增加暴露量。
