Exposure assessment of oxidant gases and acidic aerosols

Abstract

Clearly the presence of high ozone and acidic species in North America is primarily dependent upon photochemical air pollution. Evidence shows, however, that high acid exposures may occur in specific types of areas of high sulfur fuel use during the winter. At the present time, our concerns about exposure to local populations and regional populations should be directed primarily toward the outdoor activity patterns of individuals in the summer, and how those activity patterns relate to the location, duration, and concentrations of ozone and acid aerosol in photochemical air pollution episodes. Lioy & Dyba (23) and Mage et al (33) have examined the activity patterns of children in summer camps. Because they spend more time outside than the normal population, these children form an important group of exercising individuals subject to photochemical pollution exposures. The dose of ozone inhaled by the children in the two camps was within 50% (23) and 25% (33) of the dose inhaled by adults in controlled clinical situations that produced clinically significant decrements in pulmonary function and increased the symptoms after 6.6 hr exposure in a given day (12, 30). The chamber studies have used only ozone, whereas in the environment this effect may be enhanced by the presence of a complex mixture. The work of Lioy et al (27) in Mendham, New Jersey found that hydrogen ion seemed to play a role in the inability of the children to return immediately to their normal peak expiratory flow rate after exposure. The camp health study conducted in Dunsville, Ontario suggested that children participating in a summer camp where moderate levels of ozone (100 ppb) but high levels of acid (46 micrograms/m3) occurred during an episode had a similar response. Thus, for children or exercising adults who are outdoors for at least one hour or more during a given day, the presence and persistence of oxidants in the environment are of particular concern. Lippmann (19, 30) has suggested that the complex mixture of pollutants in the atmosphere increased the decrements in pulmonary function of children in camps, since their decrements were similar to those observed at higher ozone concentrations in the clinical studies (30). This phenomenon must be investigated in future research studies since there appears to be a potential for enhanced exposure and effects. Ozone is present for many hours during the day in summer during episodes of photochemical air pollution.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)