The relationship between indoor nitrogen dioxide concentration levels and personal exposure: a pilot study

Summary A small, personal monitoring study was performed in a subpopulation (14 families) of a case-control study on the relationship between indoor nitrogen-dioxide exposure and respiratory diseases of schoolchildren. Mothers, schoolchildren and pre-schoolchildren were asked to carry duplicate Palmes diffusion tubes during one week. Simultaneously nitrogen-dioxide concentrations were measured in the kitchen, living room, bedroom, outdoors and—for a few participants—at school and at work. Information on time activity patterns was gathered by means of a self administered diary. Several models for estimating exposure were constructed and tested against measured exposure. The personal exposure of the participants could well be explained by models containing indoor concentrations. Models with time-weighted average concentrations did not explain personal exposure better than models containing indoor concentrations. A calculated time-weighted average exposure was found to underestimate measured personal exposure by an average 20%, probably because the average concentration in a location does not necessarily reflect the actual exposure in that location. Personal exposure of mothers and children was very similar and highly correlated, indicating that the personal exposure of the mother might be a reasonable estimate for the exposure of the child.