US EPA

28220 

Journal Article 

Source apportionment of indoor aerosols in Suffolk and Onondaga Counties, New York 

Koutrakis, P; Briggs, SLK; Leaderer, BP 

1992 

1 

Environmental Science & Technology
ISSN: 0013-936X
EISSN: 1520-5851 

26 

3 

521-527 

English 

10.1021/es00027a012 

WOS:A1992HG15800019 

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es00027a012
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; New York State Energy Research Development Authority. #An indoor air quality study was conducted in two New York State counties. Week-long fine particle mass samples were collected indoors in 394 homes and outdoors in a subset of these homes. The aerosol samples were analyzed by X-ray fluorescence for 16 elements. Homes included in this study had one or more of the following sources: cigarette smoking, kerosene heaters, wood-burning stoves, and gas stoves. Homes with none of the above sources were also included. A simple physical model was used to ascertain the contribution of indoor and outdoor sources. Among the four investigated sources, cigarette smoking was found to be the most important source. Kerosene heaters were also important, but to a lesser extent. Gas stoves did not contribute to the observed indoor aerosol concentrations, yet other unknown indoor sources were significant contributors. The results of this study suggest that a simple physical model can be used to predict indoor fine-mass and elemental concentrations.