title: Particle deposition in airways of chronic respiratory patients exposed to an urban aerosol.
abstract: Urban atmospheres in modern cities carry characteristic mixtures of particulate pollution which are potentially aggravating for chronic respiratory patients (CRP). Although air quality surveys can be detailed, the obtained information is not always useful to evaluate human health effects. This paper presents a novel approach to estimate particle deposition rates in airways of CRP, based on real air pollution data. By combining computational fluid dynamics with physical-chemical characteristics of particulate pollution, deposition rates are estimated for particles of different toxicological relevance, that is, minerals, iron oxides, sea salts, ammonium salts, and carbonaceous particles. Also, it enables some qualitative evaluation of the spatial, temporal, and patient specific effects on the particle dose upon exposure to the urban atmosphere. Results show how heavy traffic conditions increases the deposition of anthropogenic particles in the trachea and lungs of respiratory patients (here, +0.28 and +1.5 μg·h(-1), respectively). In addition, local and synoptic meteorological conditions were found to have a strong effect on the overall dose. However, the pathology and age of the patient was found to be more crucial, with highest deposition rates for toxic particles in adults with a mild anomaly, followed by mild asthmatic children and adults with severe respiratory dysfunctions (7, 5, and 3 μg·h(-1), respectively).
authors.affiliation: Environmental analysis, Departement of Chemistry, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, Antwerp, B-2610, Belgium. benjamin.horemans@ua.ac.be
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Horemans
authors.forename: Cedric
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Van Holsbeke
authors.forename: Wim
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Vos
authors.forename: Larysa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Darchuk
authors.forename: Velibor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Novakovic
authors.forename: Angel C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Fontan
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: De Backer
authors.forename: René
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Van Grieken
authors.forename: Wilfried
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: De Backer
authors.forename: Karolien
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: De Wael
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000336:Aerosols; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D002648:Child; D002947:Cities; D003198:Computer Simulation; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000032:analysis / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D012137:Respiratory System / Q000378:metabolism*; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000336:Aerosols; D000393:Air Pollutants; D052638:Particulate Matter