Quantifying human exposure to air pollution: moving from static monitoring to spatio-temporally resolved personal exposure assessment

Steinle, Susanne; Reis, Stefan ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2428-8320; Sabel, Clive Eric. 2013 Quantifying human exposure to air pollution: moving from static monitoring to spatio-temporally resolved personal exposure assessment. Science of the Total Environment, 443. 184-193. 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2012.10.098

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2012.10.098

Abstract/Summary

Quantifying human exposure to air pollutants is a challenging task. Ambient concentrations of air pollutants at potentially harmful levels are ubiquitous in urban areas and subject to high spatial and temporal variability. At the same time, every individual has unique activity-patterns. Exposure results from multifaceted relationships and interactions between environmental and human systems, adding complexity to the assessment process. Traditionally, approaches to quantify human exposure have relied on pollutant concentrations from fixed air quality network sites and static population distributions. New developments in sensor technology now enable us to monitor personal exposure to air pollutants directly while people are moving through their activity spaces and varying concentration fields. The literature review on which this paper is based on reflects recent developments in the assessment of human exposure to air pollution. This includes the discussion of methodologies and concepts, and the elaboration of approaches and study designs applied in the field. We identify shortcomings of current approaches and discuss future research needs. We close by proposing a novel conceptual model for the integrated assessment of human exposure to air pollutants taking into account latest technological capabilities and contextual information.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1016/j.scitotenv.2012.10.098
Programmes:	CEH Topics & Objectives 2009 - 2012 > Biogeochemistry > BGC Topic 3 - Managing Threats to Environment and Health > BGC - 3.1 - Develop temporally and spatially explicit risk assessment tools ...
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:	Billett (to November 2013)
ISSN:	0048-9697
Additional Keywords:	environment, air pollution, personal exposure, conceptual model, integrated assessment
NORA Subject Terms:	Ecology and Environment Health
Date made live:	07 Dec 2012 11:15 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/20732

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2012.10.098

Programmes:

CEH Topics & Objectives 2009 - 2012 > Biogeochemistry > BGC Topic 3 - Managing Threats to Environment and Health > BGC - 3.1 - Develop temporally and spatially explicit risk assessment tools ...

UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:

Billett (to November 2013)

ISSN:

0048-9697

Additional Keywords:

environment, air pollution, personal exposure, conceptual model, integrated assessment