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Seasonal variations of particle number distribution in an office environment and outside potential pollution sources

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Abstract

At present, indoor particulate matter pollution is a widespread concern because particulate matter is one of the main indoor pollutants affecting human health. However, few studies have focused on correlation between outside and inside particle sources. The experiment of this study was conducted in an office in Qingdao, China. The particle size distribution ranged from 0.3 to 2.5 μm, and the collection time was from April 2019 to January 2020. The results showed that the particle concentration was largest in winter and smallest in summer. Based on the balance of particle mass equation and the measured data of I/O (indoor and outdoor particle concentration ratio), the outside and indoor source emissions were obtained, respectively. The data showed that the indoor emission was largest in winter and smallest in summer, accounting for particulate proportions of 60–65% and 10–22%, respectively. It indicates that indoor emissions are strongly correlated with the outdoors pollution level. Therefore, the trajectories of air mass were simulated for each measurement season to track the long-range transport pathways of outdoor airflow arriving at the sampling site. The results gave the useful information about pollution contributions from any possible sources, such as from the local regional sources, from trans-regional sources as well as from oceanic sources. The investigation of this study is conducive to make appropriate strategies and take effective measures on indoor particle pollution control.

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Data availability

The datasets generated and analyzed during the current study are available in the [ftp://arlftp.arlhq.noaa.gov/pub/archives/gdas1] repository, [PERSISTENT WEB LINK TO DATASETS].

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Funding

This study was supported by the oversea study foundation of Shandong provincial government in 2019.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Civil Engineering Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266590, China

    Huidi Ding, Hang Gao, Changhao Wang & Xiaochun Cong

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  1. Huidi Ding
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  2. Hang Gao
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  3. Changhao Wang
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  4. Xiaochun Cong
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Correspondence to Xiaochun Cong.

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Ding, H., Gao, H., Wang, C. et al. Seasonal variations of particle number distribution in an office environment and outside potential pollution sources. Air Qual Atmos Health 15, 739–748 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11869-022-01172-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11869-022-01172-5

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