184115 In-Duct Air Cleaning: A Modeling and Health Impact Assessment

Monday, October 27, 2008: 9:15 AM

David MacIntosh , Advanced Analytics, Environmental Health and Engineering, Inc., Needham, MA
Theodore A. Myatt, ScD , Environmental Health & Engineering, Inc., Needham, MA
Taeko Minegishi , Advanced Analytics, Environmental Health and Engineering, Inc., Needham, MA
Jonathan Levy, ScD , Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA
     
Health risks of fine particle air pollution (PM2.5) are an important public health concern that may be mitigated in part by interventions that reduce particle inhalation exposure. To estimate the public health benefits of lower exposure to PM2.5 afforded by whole-house air cleaning systems, a multizone indoor air quality model, along with GIS, was used to integrate information on housing stock, ventilation, demographics, meteorology, and ambient PM2.5 to produce estimates of PM2.5 in residential indoor air in three cities in Ohio. A health impact assessment approach was used to estimate public health benefits from reduced PM2.5 exposure. The mean indoor PM2.5 concentrations from outdoor origins for homes built after 1990 were 2.9 µg/m3 (s.d.: 4.7) for homes with high efficiency air cleaners compared to 5.8 µg/m3 (s.d.: 5.7) for conventional filtration and 9.8 µg/m3 (s.d.: 7.6) for natural ventilation. The modeling indicates that use of high efficiency, whole-house air cleaners results in substantial reductions in exposure to PM2.5. Assuming the entire population in the modeling domain living in single-family homes with forced air ventilation converted from conventional to high-efficiency filtration, the change in PM2.5 exposure is estimated to result in an annual reduction of 440 premature deaths, 237 hospital admissions, 350 emergency room visits for asthma, 190 cases of chronic bronchitis, and 84,000 asthma attacks. In addition to controlling emissions from sources, high efficiency whole-house air cleaning systems reduce exposure to particles of outdoor origin and can be an effective means of managing public health impacts of ambient particle pollution.

Learning Objectives:
To provide those interested in the exposure and control of particle air pollution information regarding the impacts of methods designed to control particle exposures. To provide researchers interested in the efficacy of environmental interventions regarding PM related health effects preliminary information useful for generating hypotheses and designing studies.

Keywords: Indoor Environment, Air Quality

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have nearly 20 years experience in environmental health with an emphasis on exposure and risk assessment, have been a tenured professor of environmental health at the University of Georgia, am frequently invited to join national committees hosted by the EPA and NIH to evaluate environmental health issues, and am a frequent author of peer-reviewed scientific papers.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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