ISGlobal, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública, Barcelona, Spain; Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS), Division of Environmental Epidemiology (EEPI), Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
ISGlobal, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública, Barcelona, Spain.
Environ Int. 2019 May;126:494-503. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2019.02.054. Epub 2019 Mar 5.
To assess environmental exposures at the individual level, new assessment methods and tools are required. We developed an exposure assessment system (ExpoApp) for smartphones. ExpoApp integrates: (i) geo-location and accelerometry measurements from a waist attached smartphone, (ii) data from portable monitors, (iii) geographic information systems, and (iv) individual's information. ExpoApp calculates time spent in microenvironments, physical activity level, inhalation rate, and environmental exposures and doses (e.g., green spaces, inhaled ultrafine particles- UFP). We deployed ExpoApp in a panel study of 158 adults from five cities (Amsterdam and Utrecht- the Netherlands, Basel- Switzerland, Norwich- UK, and Torino- Italy) with an UFP monitor. To evaluate ExpoApp, participants also carried a reference accelerometer (ActiGraph) and completed a travel-activity diary (TAD). System reliability and validity of measurements were evaluated by comparing the monitoring failure rate and the agreement on time spent in microenvironments and physical activity with the reference tools. There were only significant failure rate differences between ExpoApp and ActiGraph in Norwich. Agreement on time in microenvironments and physical activity level between ExpoApp and reference tools was 86.6% (86.5-86.7) and 75.7% (71.5-79.4), respectively. ExpoApp estimated that participants inhaled 16.5 × 10 particles/day of UFP and had almost no contact with green spaces (24% of participants spent ≥30 min/day in green spaces). Participants with more contact with green spaces had higher inhaled dose of UFP, except for the Netherlands, where the relationship was the inverse. ExpoApp is a reliable system and provides accurate individual's measurements, which may help to understand the role of environmental exposures on the origin and course of diseases.
为了评估个体层面的环境暴露，需要新的评估方法和工具。我们开发了一个智能手机暴露评估系统（ExpoApp）。ExpoApp 集成了：（i）腰部附着的智能手机的地理位置和加速度计测量值，（ii）便携式监测器的数据，（iii）地理信息系统，和（iv）个人信息。ExpoApp 计算微环境中的时间、身体活动水平、吸入率以及环境暴露和剂量（例如，绿色空间、吸入的超细颗粒-UFP）。我们在一项来自五个城市（荷兰的阿姆斯特丹和乌得勒支、瑞士的巴塞尔、英国的诺里奇和意大利的都灵）的 158 名成年人的面板研究中部署了 ExpoApp，并配备了一个 UFP 监测器。为了评估 ExpoApp，参与者还携带了一个参考加速度计（ActiGraph）并完成了一份出行活动日记（TAD）。通过比较监测失败率以及与参考工具在微环境和身体活动时间上的一致性，评估了系统测量的可靠性和有效性。仅在诺里奇，ExpoApp 和 ActiGraph 之间存在显著的失败率差异。ExpoApp 与参考工具在微环境时间和身体活动水平上的一致性分别为 86.6%（86.5-86.7）和 75.7%（71.5-79.4）。ExpoApp 估计参与者每天吸入 16.5×10 个 UFP 颗粒，几乎没有接触绿色空间（24%的参与者每天在绿色空间中度过≥30 分钟）。与绿色空间接触较多的参与者吸入的 UFP 剂量更高，但荷兰除外，在荷兰，两者的关系是相反的。ExpoApp 是一个可靠的系统，提供准确的个体测量，这可能有助于理解环境暴露在疾病的起源和进程中的作用。
