Ultrafine particles in residential indoors and doses deposited in the human respiratory system

Abstract

Indoor aerosol sources may significantly contribute to the daily dose of particles deposited into the human respiratory system. Therefore, it is important to characterize the aerosols deriving from the operations currently performed in an indoor environment and also to estimate the relevant particle respiratory doses. For this aim, aerosols from indoor combustive and non-combustive sources were characterized in terms of aerosol size distributions, and the relevant deposition doses were estimated as a function of time, particle diameter and deposition site in the respiratory system. Ultrafine particles almost entirely made up the doses estimated. The maximum contribution was due to particles deposited in the alveolar region between the 18th and the 21st airway generation. When cooking operations were performed, respiratory doses per unit time were about ten-fold higher than the relevant indoor background dose. Such doses were even higher than those associated with outdoor traffic aerosol.