Abstract
Fine particulate matter (PM) and Black Carbon are two of the worst air pollutants, affecting human health, mainly elderly. Despite this fact, there is no data in literature about these pollutants indoor dwellings in Brazil. This study aims to analyze PM smaller than 0.25 μm (PM0.25) and the Black Carbon (rBC) indoor dwellings of elderly located in the Metropolitan Area of Sao Paulo (RMSP), in which air pollution has been a serious problem due to the vehicular emissions. In 60 indoor dwellings, each PM sample was obtained during 24 hours, being the mass and rBC measured by gravimetric analysis and reflectance, respectively. The mass of PM0,25 and rBC were evaluated in function of the traffic and meteorological conditions; being the average concentrations 13.7 and 2.8 μg/m3, respectively. The PM0.25 exceeded the guideline from the WHO threshold for PM2.5 in 11.7% of households. Around 26% of the PM2.5 consisted in rBC, which was due to their proximity of the intense traffic routes. Considering that the rBC is a tracer of the vehicular emissions and it is harmful to the elderly health, it is important that this pollutant be considered in terms of public control actions for air quality improvement in RMSP.
Keywords:
air pollution; black carbon; fine particulate matter; indoor
