Background

Short-term studies of health effects from ambient air pollution usually rely on fixed site monitoring data or spatio-temporal models for exposure characterization, but the relation to personal exposure is often not known.

Objective

We aimed to explore this relation for black carbon (BC) in central Stockholm.

Methods

Families (n = 46) with an infant, one parent working and one parent on parental leave, carried battery-operated BC instruments for 7 days. Routine BC monitoring data were obtained from rural background (RB) and urban background (UB) sites. Outdoor levels of BC at home and work were estimated in 24 h periods by dispersion modelling based on hourly real-time meteorological data, and statistical meteorological data representing annual mean conditions. Global radiation, air pressure, precipitation, temperature, and wind speed data were obtained from the UB station. All families lived in the city centre, within 4 km of the UB station.

Results

The average level of 24 h personal BC was 425 (s.d. 181) ng/m³ for parents on leave, and 394 (s.d. 143) ng/m³ for working parents. The corresponding fixed-site monitoring observations were 148 (s.d. 139) at RB and 317 (s.d. 149) ng/m³ at UB. Modelled BC levels at home and at work were 493 (s.d. 228) and 331 (s.d. 173) ng/m³, respectively. UB, RB and air pressure explained only 21% of personal 24 h BC variability for parents on leave and 25% for working parents. Modelled home BC and observed air pressure explained 23% of personal BC, and adding modelled BC at work increased the explanation to 34% for the working parents.

Impact

Short-term studies of health effects from ambient air pollution usually rely on fixed site monitoring data or spatio-temporal models for exposure characterization, but the relation to actual personal exposure is often not known. In this study we showed that both routine monitoring and modelled data explained less than 35% of variability in personal black carbon exposure. Hence, short-term health effects studies based on fixed site monitoring or spatio-temporal modelling are likely to be underpowered and subject to bias.

中文翻译：

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个人接触黑碳水平与固定地点监测数据和扩散模型的比较以及活动模式和环境的影响

背景

对环境空气污染对健康影响的短期研究通常依赖于固定地点监测数据或时空模型来描述暴露特征，但与个人暴露的关系往往未知。

客观的

我们的目的是探索斯德哥尔摩市中心黑碳 (BC) 的这种关系。

方法

有婴儿、一名父母在工作、一名父母正在休育儿假的家庭 ( n  = 46) 携带电池供电的 BC 仪器 7 天。常规 BC 监测数据是从农村背景 (RB) 和城市背景 (UB) 站点获得的。根据每小时实时气象数据和代表年平均条件的统计气象数据，通过离散模型估算 24 小时内家庭和工作场所的室外 BC 水平。全球辐射、气压、降水、温度和风速数据均从 UB 站获得。所有家庭都住在市中心，距离 UB 车站不到 4 公里。

结果

休假父母的 24 小时个人 BC 平均水平为 425 (sd 181) ng/m ³ ，工作父母为 394 (sd 143) ng/m ^{3 。}相应的固定地点监测观测值在RB 为148 (sd 139) ng/m ³在UB 为317 (sd 149) ng/m 3 。家庭和工作场所的模拟 BC 水平分别为 493 (sd 228) 和 331 (sd 173) ng/m ³。UB、RB 和气压仅解释了休假父母个人 24 小时 BC 变异的 21% 和工作父母的 25%。家庭 BC 模型和观测到的气压可以解释 23% 的个人 BC，而在工作中添加模型 BC 可以将工作父母的解释增加到 34%。

影响

对环境空气污染对健康影响的短期研究通常依赖于固定地点监测数据或时空模型来描述暴露特征，但与实际个人暴露的关系往往未知。在这项研究中，我们表明，常规监测和建模数据都能解释个人黑碳暴露中不到 35% 的变异性。因此，基于固定地点监测或时空模型的短期健康影响研究可能动力不足且容易出现偏差。