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Outdoor/Indoor/Personal ozone exposures of children in Nashville, Tennessee
Kiyoung Lee1, William J Parkhurst, Jianping Xue
1Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, University of California, Davis, California 95616, USA. lee@ucdavis.edu
Insights
Children
Area of Science:
- Environmental Health
- Air Quality Monitoring
- Pediatric Exposure Science
Background:
- Ozone (O3) poses a significant risk to public health, especially for children.
- Understanding children's actual exposure levels is crucial for assessing health impacts.
- Previous studies have often relied on ambient monitoring, not personal exposure.
Purpose of the Study:
- To measure weekly outdoor, indoor, and personal ozone exposure for children aged 10-12.
- To compare ozone exposure in urban vs. suburban settings in Nashville, TN.
- To investigate the relationship between time spent indoors/outdoors and personal ozone exposure.
Main Methods:
- Utilized passive O3 samplers for six weeks to collect exposure data.
- Recruited 36 children for O3 sampling and 99 for time-activity interviews.
- Coordinated with the 1994 Nashville/Middle Tennessee Ozone Study for enhanced ambient O3 data.
Main Results:
- Weekly average outdoor O3 ranged from 0.011 to 0.042 ppm across communities.
- Personal O3 exposures were 7-31% of outdoor levels.
- Air-conditioned homes had low indoor O3; homes with open windows had higher levels.
Conclusions:
- Personal ozone exposure is influenced by time spent in different environments.
- Home ventilation strategies significantly impact indoor ozone concentrations.
- Findings highlight the need for targeted strategies to reduce children's ozone exposure.
Abstract:
An ozone (O3) exposure study was conducted in Nashville, TN, using passive O3 samplers to measure six weekly outdoor, indoor, and personal O3 exposure estimates for a group of 10- to 12-yr-old elementary school children. Thirty-six children from two Nashville area communities (Inglewood and Hendersonville) participated in the O3 sampling program, and 99 children provided additional time-activity information by telephone interview. By design, this study coincided with the 1994 Nashville/Middle Tennessee Ozone Study conducted by the Southern Oxidants Study, which provided enhanced continuous ambient O3 monitoring across the Nashville area. Passive sampling estimated weekly average outdoor O3 concentrations from 0.011 to 0.O30 ppm in the urban Inglewood community and from 0.015 to 0.042 ppm in suburban Hendersonville. The maximum 1- and 8-hr ambient concentrations encountered at the Hendersonville continuous monitor exceeded the levels of the 1- and 8-hr metrics for the O3 National Ambient Air Quality Standard. Weekly average personal O3 exposures ranged from 0.0013 to 0.0064 ppm (7-31% of outdoor levels). Personal O3 exposures reflected the proportional amount of time spent in indoor and outdoor environments. Air-conditioned homes displayed very low indoor O3 concentrations, and homes using open windows and fans for ventilation displayed much higher concentrations.
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