Contribution of metals in resuspended dust to indoor and personal inhalation exposures: Relationships between PM10 and settled dust

Abstract This study investigated relationships between element concentrations in settled indoor dust and airborne particulate matter (PM), and characterized element concentrations in fine (PM 2.5 ) and coarse (PM 10-2.5 ) modes of indoor, outdoor and personal microenvironments. Concentrations in settled house dust correlated significantly (99% CI) with concentrations in indoor PM 10 for 11 out of 17 studied elements: Ag, Al, As, B, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, U, V and Zn. Five elements showed significant correlations between personal PM 10 and settled dust, at 99% CI for Ag, Al, and As; and at 95% CI for Mn and Sb. These significant dust- PM 10 correlations were observed in non-smokers’ homes in Windsor, Canada, in which PM 10-2.5 comprised 55% of personal and indoor PM 10 (median values in 2005 and 2006 respectively). Several elements were more concentrated in indoor PM 10 compared to the settled dust from which the PM 10 was derived, with enrichment factors ranging from 1.3 to 11. Dust fractionation experiments confirmed that most trace elements were enriched in resuspended PM 10 compared to the parent dust sample. The