Article In: cienciavitae, orcid, scopus
Determination of airborne nanoparticles in elderly care centers
Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health - Part A: Current Issues
— 2014 — Taylor & Francis
Key information
Authors:
Published in
08/18/2014
Abstract
According to numerous studies, airborne nanoparticles have a potential to produce serious adverse human health effects when deposited into the respiratory tract. The most important parts of the lung are the alveolar regions with their enormous surface areas and potential to transfer nanoparticles into the blood stream. These effects may be potentiated in case of the elderly, since this population is more susceptible to air pollutants in general and more to nanoparticles than larger particles. The main goal of this investigation was to determine the exposure of institutionalized elders to nanoparticles using Nanoparticle Surface Area Monitor (NSAM) equipment to calculate the deposited surface area (DSA) of nanoparticles into elderly lungs. In total, 193 institutionalized individuals over 65 yr of age were examined in four elderly care centers (ECC). The occupancy daily pattern was achieved by applying a questionnaire, and it was concluded that these subjects spent most of their time indoors, including the bedroom and living room, the indoor microenvironments with higher prevalence of elderly occupancy. The deposited surface area ranged from 10 to 46 μm2/cm3. The living rooms presented significantly higher levels compared with bedrooms. Comparing PM10 concentrations with nanoparticles deposited surface area in elderly lungs, it is conceivable that living rooms presented the highest concentration of PM10 and were similar to the highest average DSA. The temporal distribution of DSA was also assessed. While data showed a quantitative fluctuation in values in bedrooms, high peaks were detected in living rooms.
Publication details
Authors in the community:
João Fernando Pereira Gomes
ist123818
Susana Marta Lopes Almeida
ist25472
Publication version
AO - Author's Original
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Link to the publisher's version
https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/uteh20
Title of the publication container
Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health - Part A: Current Issues
First page or article number
867
Last page
878
Volume
77
Issue
14-16
ISSN
1087-2620
WoS (Web of Science)
Fields of Science and Technology (FOS)
chemical-engineering - Chemical engineering
Publication language (ISO code)
eng - English
Alternative identifier (URI)
http://hdl.handle.net/10400.21/4933
Rights type:
Only metadata available