Are There Estimates of Indoor Air Exposure to Diesel Exhaust Particulate Matter?
Yes. To estimate Californians’ exposures to diesel exhaust particles, ARB staff used estimates of population-weighted outdoor diesel exhaust particle concentrations for 1990 in a model that can estimate indoor air concentrations, population indoor air exposure, and total air exposure. The model, called the California Population Indoor Exposure Model (CPIEM), was recently developed under contract to ARB to improve estimates of population exposures to toxic air pollutants (see Chapter V, section F). The model uses relevant data (such as distributions of California building air exchange rates, adult and children’s activity patterns data, and population-weighted air concentrations of diesel exhaust particles) as inputs to develop indoor concentration estimates and population exposure estimates across all environments. The average indoor diesel exhaust particle concentrations estimated by the model ranged from 1.6 (+ 0.7) g/m3 in office buildings to 3.0 (+ 1.1) g/m3 in industrial plants and
