Human-Oriented Built Environment Lab, School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, École Polytechnique Fedérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Human-IST Institute, Department of Informatics, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland.
J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol. 2023 May;33(3):396-406. doi: 10.1038/s41370-022-00495-w. Epub 2022 Nov 8.
Modern health concerns related to air pollutant exposure in buildings have been exacerbated owing to several factors. Methods for assessing inhalation exposures indoors have been restricted to stationary air pollution measurements, typically assuming steady-state conditions.
We aimed to examine the feasibility of several proxy methods for estimating inhalation exposure to CO, PM, and PM in simulated office environments.
In a controlled climate chamber mimicking four different office setups, human participants performed a set of scripted sitting and standing office activities. Three proxy sensing techniques were examined: stationary indoor air quality (IAQ) monitoring, individual monitoring of physiological status by wearable wristband, human presence detection by Passive Infrared (PIR) sensors. A ground-truth of occupancy was obtained from video recordings of network cameras. The results were compared with the concurrent IAQ measurements in the breathing zone of a reference participant by means of multiple linear regression (MLR) analysis with a combination of different input parameters.
Segregating data onto sitting and standing activities could lead to improved accuracy of exposure estimation model for CO and PM by 9-60% during sitting activities, relative to combined activities. Stationary PM and PM monitors positioned at the ceiling-mounted ventilation exhaust in vicinity of the seated reference participant accurately estimated inhalation exposure (adjusted R² = 0.91 and R² = 0.87). Measurement at the front edge of the desk near abdomen showed a moderate accuracy (adjusted R² = 0.58) in estimating exposure to CO. Combining different sensing techniques improved the CO exposure detection by twofold, whereas the improvement for PM exposure detection was small (~10%).
This study contributes to broadening the knowledge of proxy methods for personal exposure estimation under dynamic occupancy profiles. The study recommendations on optimal monitor combination and placement could help stakeholders better understand spatial air pollutant gradients indoors which can ultimately improve control of IAQ.
由于多种因素，与建筑物内空气污染物暴露相关的现代健康问题愈发严重。室内吸入暴露评估方法一直受到限制，通常假定为稳态条件。
我们旨在研究几种估算模拟办公环境中 CO、PM 和 PM 吸入暴露的替代方法的可行性。
在模拟四个不同办公环境的受控气候室内，人类参与者执行了一系列预定的坐立办公活动。研究了三种替代感应技术：固定室内空气质量（IAQ）监测、佩戴腕带监测个体生理状态、被动红外（PIR）传感器检测人员存在。通过网络摄像机的视频记录获取占用的真实情况。将结果与参考参与者呼吸区的同时 IAQ 测量值进行比较，通过多元线性回归（MLR）分析，结合不同输入参数进行分析。
将数据分为坐立活动，可使 CO 和 PM 的暴露估算模型的准确性相对于综合活动提高 9-60%。位于靠近坐立参考参与者的天花板式通风排气口的固定 PM 和 PM 监测器可准确估计吸入暴露量（调整 R²=0.91 和 R²=0.87）。位于办公桌前缘靠近腹部处的测量值在估算 CO 暴露方面具有中等准确性（调整 R²=0.58）。结合不同的感应技术可将 CO 暴露检测提高两倍，而 PM 暴露检测的改善较小（约 10%）。
本研究有助于拓宽在动态占用情况下进行个人暴露估算的替代方法的知识。研究对最佳监测器组合和放置的建议可以帮助利益相关者更好地理解室内空气污染物的空间梯度，从而最终改善室内空气质量控制。
