Assessing Human Exposure to Hazardous Air Pollutants in Various Microenvironments
Various types of retail stores were sampled using a composite sampling design, including hardware, grocery, furniture, drug, houseware, sporting goods, department, electronics, and multipurpose stores. Smoking and non-smoking dining establishements were also sampled. VOC concentrations tended to be more skewed in dining and shopping microenvironments compared to inside home microenvironments. Using data from BEAM microenvironments and the literature, a stochastic population exposure model was developed for four different cohorts - employed males/females, and unemployed males/females. Overall, female non-workers had the largest contribution to exposure from the dining and shopping microenvironments, while male workers had the lowest. The median contribution to total personal exposure ranged from less than 1% for several compounds to 8% for styrene. At the 95th percentile, these two microenvironments could contribute from 10% to 70% of a person's exposure, depending on the compound.
