Prediction of personal exposure to PM2.5 and carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by their concentrations in residential microenvironments

We measured exposure to fine particles (PM2.5) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), including carcinogenic PAHs, in multiple locations for a diverse population of participants who resided in Shizuoka, Japan. In summer and winter 2002 we surveyed personal concentrations, those of four primary indoor microenvironments-living room, bedroom, kitchen (summer only), and workplace--and those outside the subjects' houses. Concentrations of PM2.5 and PAHs tended to be higher during winter. Median PM2.5 concentration was highest in living room samples during winter but in personal samples during summer. The median PAH concentrations normalized to the cancer potency equivalence factor of benzoa]pyrene (BaP-TEQ) was highest in the bedroom during winter but outdoors in summer. Personal exposure level profiles differed markedly between smokers and nonsmokers. Personal exposures to BaP (BaP]p) and BaP-TEQ (BaP-TEQ]P) in nonsmokers were strongly correlated. Personal exposures of nonsmokers, as calculated from the corresponding time-weighted indoor and outdoor concentrations, were consistent with measured levels of BaP but not PM2.5. Personal exposure of nonsmokers to BaP, as calculated from the time-weighted living room, bedroom, and either workplace or outdoor concentrations, accounted for 92-107% of the measured levels of BaP-TEQ.