Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Occupational and Environmental Medicine logoLink to Occupational and Environmental Medicine
. 2005 Dec;62(12):868–877. doi: 10.1136/oem.2004.016618

Associations between ambient, personal, and indoor exposure to fine particulate matter constituents in Dutch and Finnish panels of cardiovascular patients

N Janssen 1, T Lanki 1, G Hoek 1, M Vallius 1, J J de Hartog 1, R Van Grieken 1, J Pekkanen 1, B Brunekreef 1
PMCID: PMC1740941  PMID: 16299096

Abstract

Aims: To assess the relation between ambient, indoor, and personal levels of PM2.5 and its elemental composition for elderly subjects with cardiovascular disease.

Methods: In the framework of a European Union funded study, panel studies were conducted in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and Helsinki, Finland. Outdoor PM2.5 concentrations were measured at a fixed site. Each subject's indoor and personal PM2.5 exposure was measured biweekly for six months, during the 24 hour period preceding intensive health measurements. The absorbance of PM2.5 filters was measured as a marker for diesel exhaust. The elemental content of more than 50% of the personal and indoor samples and all corresponding outdoor samples was measured using energy dispersive x ray fluorescence.

Results: For Amsterdam and Helsinki respectively, a total of 225 and 238 personal, and 220 and 233 indoor measurements, were analysed from 36 and 46 subjects. For most elements, personal and indoor concentrations were lower than and highly correlated with outdoor concentrations. The highest correlations (median r>0.9) were found for sulfur and particle absorbance, which both represent fine mode particles from outdoor origin. Low correlations were observed for elements that represent the coarser part of the PM2.5 particles (Ca, Cu, Si, Cl).

Conclusions: The findings of this study provide support for using fixed site measurements as a measure of exposure to particulate matter in time series studies linking the day to day variation in particulate matter to the day to day variation in health endpoints, especially for components of particulate matter that are generally associated with fine particles and have few indoor sources. The high correlation for absorbance of PM2.5 documents that this applies to particulate matter from combustion sources, such as diesel vehicles, as well.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (141.3 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Brunekreef B., Dockery D. W., Krzyzanowski M. Epidemiologic studies on short-term effects of low levels of major ambient air pollution components. Environ Health Perspect. 1995 Mar;103 (Suppl 2):3–13. doi: 10.1289/ehp.95103s23. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Ebelt S. T., Petkau A. J., Vedal S., Fisher T. V., Brauer M. Exposure of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients to particulate matter: relationships between personal and ambient air concentrations. J Air Waste Manag Assoc. 2000 Jul;50(7):1081–1094. doi: 10.1080/10473289.2000.10464166. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Gotschi Thomas, Oglesby Lucy, Mathys Patrick, Monn Christian, Manalis Nikos, Koistinen Kimmo, Jantunen Matti, Hanninen Otto, Polanska Liba, Kunzli Nino. Comparison of black smoke and PM2.5 levels in indoor and outdoor environments of four European cities. Environ Sci Technol. 2002 Mar 15;36(6):1191–1197. doi: 10.1021/es010079n. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Janssen N. A., Hoek G., Brunekreef B., Harssema H., Mensink I., Zuidhof A. Personal sampling of particles in adults: relation among personal, indoor, and outdoor air concentrations. Am J Epidemiol. 1998 Mar 15;147(6):537–547. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a009485. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Janssen N. A., Hoek G., Harssema H., Brunekreef B. Childhood exposure to PM10: relation between personal, classroom, and outdoor concentrations. Occup Environ Med. 1997 Dec;54(12):888–894. doi: 10.1136/oem.54.12.888. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Janssen N. A., Hoek G., Harssema H., Brunekreef B. Personal exposure to fine particles in children correlates closely with ambient fine particles. Arch Environ Health. 1999 Mar-Apr;54(2):95–101. doi: 10.1080/00039899909602242. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Janssen N. A., de Hartog J. J., Hoek G., Brunekreef B., Lanki T., Timonen K. L., Pekkanen J. Personal exposure to fine particulate matter in elderly subjects: relation between personal, indoor, and outdoor concentrations. J Air Waste Manag Assoc. 2000 Jul;50(7):1133–1143. doi: 10.1080/10473289.2000.10464159. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Koistinen Kimmo J., Edwards Rufus D., Mathys Patrick, Ruuskanen Juhani, Künzli Nino, Jantunen Matti J. Sources of fine particulate matter in personal exposures and residential indoor, residential outdoor and workplace microenvironments in the Helsinki phase of the EXPOLIS study. Scand J Work Environ Health. 2004;30 (Suppl 2):36–46. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Laden F., Neas L. M., Dockery D. W., Schwartz J. Association of fine particulate matter from different sources with daily mortality in six U.S. cities. Environ Health Perspect. 2000 Oct;108(10):941–947. doi: 10.1289/ehp.00108941. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Oglesby L., Künzli N., Rösli M., Braun-Fahrländer C., Mathys P., Stern W., Jantunen M., Kousa A. Validity of ambient levels of fine particles as surrogate for personal exposure to outdoor air pollution--results of the European EXPOLIS-EAS Study (Swiss Center Basel). J Air Waste Manag Assoc. 2000 Jul;50(7):1251–1261. doi: 10.1080/10473289.2000.10464156. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Ozkaynak H., Xue J., Spengler J., Wallace L., Pellizzari E., Jenkins P. Personal exposure to airborne particles and metals: results from the Particle TEAM study in Riverside, California. J Expo Anal Environ Epidemiol. 1996 Jan-Mar;6(1):57–78. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Rojas-Bracho L., Suh H. H., Koutrakis P. Relationships among personal, indoor, and outdoor fine and coarse particle concentrations for individuals with COPD. J Expo Anal Environ Epidemiol. 2000 May-Jun;10(3):294–306. doi: 10.1038/sj.jea.7500092. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Sarnat J. A., Koutrakis P., Suh H. H. Assessing the relationship between personal particulate and gaseous exposures of senior citizens living in Baltimore, MD. J Air Waste Manag Assoc. 2000 Jul;50(7):1184–1198. doi: 10.1080/10473289.2000.10464165. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Schauer James J. Evaluation of elemental carbon as a marker for diesel particulate matter. J Expo Anal Environ Epidemiol. 2003 Nov;13(6):443–453. doi: 10.1038/sj.jea.7500298. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Schwartz J. Air pollution and daily mortality: a review and meta analysis. Environ Res. 1994 Jan;64(1):36–52. doi: 10.1006/enrs.1994.1005. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Wallace L. Indoor particles: a review. J Air Waste Manag Assoc. 1996 Feb;46(2):98–126. doi: 10.1080/10473289.1996.10467451. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Williams R., Suggs J., Creason J., Rodes C., Lawless P., Kwok R., Zweidinger R., Sheldon L. The 1998 Baltimore Particulate Matter Epidemiology-Exposure Study: part 2. Personal exposure assessment associated with an elderly study population. J Expo Anal Environ Epidemiol. 2000 Nov-Dec;10(6 Pt 1):533–543. doi: 10.1038/sj.jea.7500108. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Williams R., Suggs J., Zweidinger R., Evans G., Creason J., Kwok R., Rodes C., Lawless P., Sheldon L. The 1998 Baltimore Particulate Matter Epidemiology-Exposure Study: part 1. Comparison of ambient, residential outdoor, indoor and apartment particulate matter monitoring. J Expo Anal Environ Epidemiol. 2000 Nov-Dec;10(6 Pt 1):518–532. doi: 10.1038/sj.jea.7500107. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Wilson W. E., Suh H. H. Fine particles and coarse particles: concentration relationships relevant to epidemiologic studies. J Air Waste Manag Assoc. 1997 Dec;47(12):1238–1249. doi: 10.1080/10473289.1997.10464074. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Occupational and Environmental Medicine are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES