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Lui KH, Zhang T, Man CL, Chan CS, Ho SSH, Qu L, Kwok HHL, Kwok TCY, Ho KF. Personal exposure monitoring of fine and coarse particulate matter using exposure assessment models for elderly residents in Hong Kong. Chemosphere 2024; 357:141975. [PMID: 38615960 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.141975] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2024] [Revised: 04/08/2024] [Accepted: 04/09/2024] [Indexed: 04/16/2024]
Abstract
This study investigated the determinants of personal exposures (PE) to coarse (PM2.5-10) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) for elderly communities in Hong Kong. The mean PE PM2.5 and PM2.5-10 were 23.6 ± 10.8 and 13.5 ± 22.1 μg/m3, respectively during the sampling period. Approximately 76% of study subjects presented statistically significant differences between PE and ambient origin for PM2.5 compared to approximately 56% for PM2.5-10, possibly due to the coarse-size particles being more influenced by similar sources (road dust and construction dust emissions) compared to the PM2.5 particles. Individual PE to ambient (P/A) ratios for PM2.5 all exceeded unity (≥1), suggesting the dominant influences of non-ambient particles contributed towards total PE values. There were about 80% individual P/A ratios (≤1) for PM2.5-10, implying possible effective infiltration prevention of larger size particulate matter particles leading to dominant influences from the outdoor sources. The higher concentration of NO3- and SO42- in PM2.5-10 compared to PM2.5 suggests possible heterogeneous reactions of alkaline minerals leading to the formation of NO3- and SO42- in PM2.5-10 particles. The PE and ambient OC/EC ratios in PM2.5 (8.8 ± 3.3 and 10.4 ± 22.4, respectively) and in PM2.5-10 (6.0 ± 1.9 and 3.0 ± 1.1, respectively) suggest possible secondary formed OC from surrounding rural areas. Heterogeneous distributions (COD >0.2) between the PE and ambient concentrations were found for both the PM2.5 and PM2.5-10 samples. The calibration coefficient as the association between personal and surrogate exposure measure of PE to PM2.5 (0.84) was higher than PM2.5-10 (0.52). The findings further confirm that local sources were the dominant contributor to the coarse particles and these coefficients can potentially be used to estimate different PE to PM2.5 and PM2.5-10 conditions. A comprehensive understanding of the PE to determinants in coarse particles is essential to further reduce potential exposure misclassification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ka Hei Lui
- The Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
| | - Tianhang Zhang
- The Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
| | - Chung Ling Man
- The Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
| | - Chi Shing Chan
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China.
| | - Steven Sai Hang Ho
- Division of Atmosphere Sciences, Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV, 89512, United States; Hong Kong Premium Services and Research Laboratory, Cheung Sha Wan, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
| | - Linli Qu
- Hong Kong Premium Services and Research Laboratory, Cheung Sha Wan, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
| | - Helen Hoi Ling Kwok
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
| | - Timothy Chi Yui Kwok
- The Jockey Club Centre for Osteoporosis, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
| | - Kin Fai Ho
- The Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
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