title: Estimating the inhaled dose of pollutants during indoor physical activity.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  It is undeniable that many benefits come from physical activity. People exercise in fitness centers to improve their health and well-being, prevent disease and to increase physical attractiveness. However, these facilities join conditions that cause poor indoor air quality. Moreover, increased inhalation rates during exercise have influence on inhaled doses of air pollution.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study aims to calculate the inhaled dose of air pollutants during exercise, by estimating minute ventilation of participants and measuring air pollutant concentrations in fitness centers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Firstly, the 20 participants performed an incremental test on a treadmill, where heart rate and minute ventilation were measured simultaneously to develop individual exponential regression equations. Secondly, heart rate was measured during fitness classes and minute ventilation was estimated based on the calculated regression coefficients. Finally, the inhaled dose of air pollutants was calculated using the estimated minute ventilation and the concentrations of the pollutants measured in a monitoring program performed in 63 fitness classes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Estimated inhaled doses were higher in aerobic classes than in holistic classes. The main difference was registered for PM10 inhaled dose that presented an average ratio between aerobic and holistic classes greater than four. Minute ventilation and PM10 concentrations in aerobic classes were, on average, 2.0 times higher than in holistic classes. Results showed that inhalation of pollutants is increased during heavy exercise, demonstrating the need to maintain high indoor air quality in fitness centers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study illustrates the importance of inclusion minute ventilation data when comparing inhaled doses of air pollution between different population groups. This work has estimated for the first time the minute ventilation for different fitness classes. Also constitutes an important contribution for the assessment of inhaled dose in future studies to be performed in fitness centers.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Ciências e Tecnologias Nucleares, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Estrada Nacional 10, Km 139.7, 2695-066 Bobadela LRS, Portugal; Faculty of Applied Sciences, Department of Radiation, Radionuclides and Reactors, Technical University of Delft, Delft, The Netherlands. Electronic address: carla.ramos@ctn.ist.utl.pt.
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Ramos
authors.affiliation: CIPER, Faculdade de Motricidade Humana, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Reis
authors.affiliation: CIPER, Faculdade de Motricidade Humana, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Almeida
authors.affiliation: CIPER, Faculdade de Motricidade Humana, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Alves
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Applied Sciences, Department of Radiation, Radionuclides and Reactors, Technical University of Delft, Delft, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: H T
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Wolterbeek
authors.affiliation: Centro de Ciências e Tecnologias Nucleares, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Estrada Nacional 10, Km 139.7, 2695-066 Bobadela LRS, Portugal.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Almeida
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000032:analysis* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019570:Inhalation Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D052638:Particulate Matter
keywords: Dose; Fitness centers; Indoor air; Inhalation; Physical activity; Pollutants