Kim Donghyun, Guak Sooyoung, Lee Kiyoung
Institute of Health and Environment, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, 08826, Korea.
Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Graduate School of Public Health, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, 08826, Korea.
J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol. 2025 Apr;35(2):315-324. doi: 10.1038/s41370-024-00662-1. Epub 2024 Mar 28.
Time-activity pattern (TAP) is an important parameter for determining personal exposure to environmental pollutants. Changes in TAPs could have significant implications for the alterations in outcomes of exposure assessments.
This study aimed to evaluate the Seoul population's long-term change in TAPs, along with variations by sociodemographic group.
In 2004, 2009, 2014, and 2019, the Time Use Survey of Statistics Korea collected the TAP information of 4036, 2610, 3337, and 2793 Seoul residents, respectively. In 2022, the TAP information of 4401 Seoul residents was collected for Korean Air Pollutant Exposure (KAPEX) research. The microenvironmental TAP changes in the Seoul population from 2004 to 2022 were assessed based on age, gender, work status, and day type.
From 2004 to 2022, Seoul people increasingly spent more time in indoor residences (from 14.8 ± 5.1 h to 15.8 ± 4.5 h) and less time in other indoors (from 7.2 ± 4.5 h to 5.9 ± 4.2 h). Their transit time constantly decreased from 2004 (1.4 ± 1.8 h) to 2022 (1.2 ± 1.3 h), whereas the outdoor time fluctuated throughout the years. From 2004 to 2022, the time of the day spent by Seoul people in residential indoor shifted to later in the morning (2004: 8:30 am; 2022: 9:00 am) and earlier in the evening (2004: 9:30 pm; 2022: 7:00 pm); however, the opposite was true for other indoors (2004: from 8:30 am to 9:30 pm; 2022: from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm) and transits (2004: 7:30-9:30 am and 3:00-8:00 pm; 2022: 7:30-9:00 pm and 5:00-9:00). The time of the day spent in outdoors increased from 2004 to 2019, with a distinct peak observed in 2022 (12:00 pm-2:00 pm). The microenvironmental time trends of adolescents and late-adulthoods differed from those of the other age groups, while those of males differed from females. Also, the microenvironmental time trends of the employed differed from those of the unemployed, and those during weekdays differed from those during weekends.
Microenvironmental TAP should be essentially considered to estimate the actual exposure to pollutants. This study demonstrates the Seoul population's long-term changes in TAP throughout the 18 years as the significant parameter in exposure assessment. Notably, the microenvironmental TAPs of Seoul people shifted, with variations across different sociodemographic groups. Previous studies in Korea did not consider the TAP shifts in exposure assessment; this study highlights the importance of aligning TAP data with concurrent environmental pollutant data and emphasizes the need for refined data collection in future exposure assessments.
时间活动模式（TAP）是确定个人对环境污染物暴露情况的一个重要参数。TAP的变化可能对暴露评估结果的改变产生重大影响。
本研究旨在评估首尔人群TAP的长期变化情况，以及不同社会人口学群体之间的差异。
2004年、2009年、2014年和2019年，韩国统计厅的时间使用调查分别收集了4036名、2610名、3337名和2793名首尔居民的TAP信息。2022年，为韩国空气污染物暴露（KAPEX）研究收集了4401名首尔居民的TAP信息。基于年龄、性别、工作状态和日期类型，评估了2004年至2022年首尔人群微环境TAP的变化情况。
从2004年到2022年，首尔居民在室内住宅中花费的时间越来越多（从14.8±5.1小时增加到15.8±4.5小时），在其他室内场所花费的时间越来越少（从7.2±4.5小时减少到5.9±4.2小时）。他们的通勤时间从2004年（1.4±1.8小时）持续下降到2022年（1.2±1.3小时），而户外时间多年来波动不定。从2004年到2022年，首尔居民在住宅室内度过的一天中的时间向上午晚些时候（2004年：上午8:30；2022年：上午9:00）和晚上早些时候（2004年：晚上9:30；2022年：晚上7:00）转移；然而，在其他室内场所（2004年：从上午8:30到晚上9:30；2022年：从上午9:00到晚上7:00）和通勤过程中（2004年：上午7:30 - 9:30和下午3:00 - 8:00；2022年：上午7:30 - 9:0（此处原文有误应是9:00）和下午5:00 - 9:00）情况则相反。从2004年到2019年，在户外度过的一天中的时间有所增加，2022年出现了一个明显的峰值（下午12:00 - 2:00）。青少年和老年人的微环境时间趋势与其他年龄组不同，男性与女性也不同。此外，就业者的微环境时间趋势与失业者不同，工作日与周末也不同。
在估计实际污染物暴露时，微环境TAP应作为基本考虑因素。本研究展示了18年来首尔人群TAP的长期变化，这是暴露评估中的一个重要参数。值得注意的是，首尔居民的微环境TAP发生了变化，不同社会人口学群体之间存在差异。韩国以前的研究在暴露评估中没有考虑TAP的变化；本研究强调了将TAP数据与同时期环境污染物数据相结合的重要性，并强调了未来暴露评估中进行精确数据收集的必要性。
