Avaliação da exposição de crianças a matéria particulada em ambiente urbano

The particulate matter (PM) has adverse impacts on human health. Children are considered a susceptible group since they breathe high volumes of air relative to their body weights and their tissues and organs are growing. The main objective of this study is to quantify the children’s daily exposure to PM and the respective inhaled dose. Nine children from Lisbon carried equipment along three days in order to quantify the PM2.5 and black carbon (BC) concentrations. The children spent more than 80% of their time indoors, especially at home and in the classroom. The exposure depends on the microenvironment frequented and the activities performed. The PM2.5 concentrations varied between 12 – 28 µg/m3. Time series analysis of the BC concentrations showed high peaks in underground parking lots, when candles are burning and during charcoal grills. The mean daily exposure and the inhaled dose were equal to 1.3 μg/m3 and 15 μg, respectively. Home was the microenvironment that mostly contributed to the daily BC exposure (39%) and inhaled dose (28%) thanks to the large amount of time spent there (55%). Transportation accounted for 5.0% of daily time however, children received intense exposure (21%) and inhaled dose (23%) due to the high BC concentration (5.1 μg/m3) in which the children were exposed. This study may be used to help prioritize targets for minimizing children’s exposure to PM and to indicate outcomes of control strategies.

Type of publication: Master Thesis of the Integrated Master in Environmental Engineering at Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal.