Issue link: https://hi.iaq.net/i/670243
Every breath we take: the lifelong impact of air pollution 30 © Royal College of Physicians 2016 Box 10: Exposure to air pollution – a 'day in the life' of a schoolchild and an office worker Schoolchild • Breakfast in kitchen with gas cooker – exposed to NO 2 , CO 2 and other gas combustion products. • Travels to school in parent's car – exposed to vehicle exhaust and VOCs from car air freshener. • Studies in crowded classroom – elevated exposure to CO 2 , plus some exposure to dusts and fibres. • Outdoor playtime – exposed to range of outdoor air pollutants. • Art lesson – exposed to VOCs from paints, resins and adhesives. • Returns home, watches television in the lounge – exposed to parent's second-hand tobacco smoke. • Supper in dining room – exposed to lead in dust from old paintwork through recent redecoration. • Asleep overnight in downstairs bedroom – exposed to radon ingress from bedrock. Office worker • Bathroom ablutions – exposed to VOCs from personal care products. • Breakfast in kitchen – exposed to PAHs from burned bacon and PM from burned toast! • Travels to work on the London underground – exposure to PM (metallic particles) in the tunnels. • Office duties – exposed to O 3 from printers and photocopiers. • Returns home and rests in lounge with signs of damp – exposed to mould spores. • Supper in dining room – exposed to formaldehyde from 'flat-pack' furniture and PM from candles. • Decorates spare room – exposed to VOCs from gloss paint and asbestos through drilling the ceiling. • Bedtime – exposed overnight to CO from faulty gas boiler and to house-dust mite allergens in pillow. School pupil Office worker Pensioner Nursery toddler Home worker Cycle courier Ambulance driver 0 500 1,000 Cumulative black carbon exposure (µg/m 3 ) 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 3,500 4,000 4,500 Morning travel (1 hour) Daytime activities (8 hours) Afternoon travel (1 hour) Evening activities (4 hours) Bedtime (11 hours) Fig 5. How a person's daily exposure to 'black carbon' (representing airborne carbon particles) varies according to the individual – what they do and where they are over 24 hours. Numerous factors will influence actual measured levels for any one individual, including, for example, where they live and work (eg near a busy road), how and for how long they travel, and whether they are exposed to indoor sources (eg open fires). Courtesy Benjamin Barratt, MRC PHE Centre for Environment and Health.