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Individual exposure of graduate students to PM2.5 and black carbon in Shanghai, China

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Abstract

The personal exposure of 51 graduate students to PM2.5 and BC in Shanghai was evaluated using portable PM2.5 and BC samplers. Global positioning systems and activity diaries were used to evaluate the microenvironments/activities that contributed to the total daily exposure of the participants, as well as to accurately estimate the PM2.5 and BC doses received by each participant. The mean PM2.5 and BC exposure concentrations were 110.0 and 5.3 μg m−3, respectively. These exposure levels were considered extremely high and comparable to those measured in a busy urban street canyon for 24 h. High daily inhaled doses in terms of both PM2.5 and BC concentrations were measured, obtaining 1062.2 and 45.9 μg day−1, respectively. Indoor activities significantly contributed to the students’ daily dose. Eating contributed the least to PM2.5 and BC exposure, whereas outdoor activities contributed the most. PM2.5 dose intensity from indoor eating slightly exceeded BC dose intensity; conversely, transportation showed higher exposure for BC than PM2.5.

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Acknowledgments

This work was jointly supported by Shanghai Pujiang Program (13PJD013), Ph.D. Programs Foundation of Ministry of Education of China (No. 20120074140001) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (WB1113005). The authors are grateful to Prof. Hai-dong Kan for providing us with MicroPEM PM2.5 samplers. The authors would like to express their special gratitude to the participants, because without their help and assistance, this project could not have been conducted successfully.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Risk Assessment and Control on Chemical processes, East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST), Shanghai, 200237, China

    Xiaoning Lei, Guangli Xiu, Bo Li, Kun Zhang & Mengfei Zhao

  2. Australia-China Centre for Air Quality Science and Management, Shanghai, 200237, China

    Xiaoning Lei, Guangli Xiu, Bo Li, Kun Zhang & Mengfei Zhao

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  1. Xiaoning Lei
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  2. Guangli Xiu
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  3. Bo Li
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  4. Kun Zhang
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  5. Mengfei Zhao
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Correspondence to Guangli Xiu.

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Lei, X., Xiu, G., Li, B. et al. Individual exposure of graduate students to PM2.5 and black carbon in Shanghai, China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 12120–12127 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6422-x

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