Predicting particulate (PM10) personal exposure distributions using a random component superposition statistical model

Abstract

This paper presents a new statistical model designed to extend our understanding from prior personal exposure field measurements of urban populations to other cities where ambient monitoring data, but no personal exposure measurements, exist. The model partitions personal exposure into two distinct components: ambient concentration and nonambient concentration. It is assumed the ambient and nonambient concentration components are uncorrelated and add together; therefore, the model is called a random component superposition (RCS) model. The 24-hr ambient outdoor concentration is multiplied by a dimensionless 'attenuation factor' between 0 and 1 to account for deposition of particles as the ambient air infiltrates indoors. The RCS model is applied to field PM10 measurement data from three large-scale personal exposure field studies: THEES (Total Human Environmental Exposure Study) in Phillipsburg, NJ; PTEAM (Particle Total Exposure Assessment Methodology) in Riverside, CA; and the Ethyl Corporation study in Toronto, Canada. Because indoor sources and activities (smoking, cooking, cleaning, the personal cloud, etc.) may be similar in similar populations, it was hypothesized that the statistical distribution of nonambient personal exposure is invariant across cities. Using a fixed 24-hr attenuation factor as a first approximation derived from regression analysis for the respondents, the distributions of nonambient PM10 personal exposures were obtained for each city. Although the mean ambient PM10 concentrations in the three cities varied from 27.9 μg/m3 in Toronto to 60.9 μg/m3 in Phillipsburg to 94.1 μg/m3 in Riverside, the mean nonambient components of personal exposures were found to be closer: 52.6 μg/m3 in Toronto; 52.4 μg/m3 in Phillipsburg; and 59.2 μg/m3 in Riverside. The three frequency distributions of the nonambient components of exposure also were similar in shape, giving support to the hypothesis that nonambient concentrations are similar across different cities and populations. These results indicate that, if the ambient concentrations were completely controlled and set to zero in all three cities, the median of the remaining personal exposures to PM10 would range from 32.0 μg/m3 (Toronto) to 34.4 μg/m3 (Phillipsburg) to 48.8 μg/m3 (Riverside). The highest-exposed 30% of the population in the three cities would still be exposed to 24-hr average PM10 concentrations of 47-74 μg/m3; the highest 20% would be exposed to concentrations of 56-92 μg/m3; the highest 10% to concentrations of 88-131 μg/m3; and the highest 5% to 133-175 μg/m3, due only to indoor sources and activities. The distribution for the difference between personal exposures and indoor concentrations, or the 'personal cloud,' also was similar in the three cities, with a mean of 30-35 μg/m3, suggesting that the personal cloud accounts for more than half on the nonambient component of PM10 personal exposure in the three cities. Using only the ambient measurements in Toronto, the nonambient data from THEES in Phillipsburg was used to predict the entire personal exposure distribution in Toronto. The PM10 exposure distribution predicted by the model showed reasonable agreement with the PM10 personal exposure distribution measured in Toronto. These initial results suggest that the RCS model may be a powerful tool for predicting personal exposure distributions and statistics in other cities where only ambient particle data are available. © 2000 Air and Waste Management Association.