Particulate matter investigation in indoor environment

Particulate matter is one of the most important indoor air pollutants involved in a number of adverse health effects, such as premature deaths and increased mortality of infants and other parts of sensitive population. This paper focuses on investigation of metal substances of suspended as well as settled particulate matter in indoor environment. The monitoring of particulate matter concentration was carried out in three rooms of a selected flat building in the city of Košice, Slovakia. The sampling of settled particulate matter was carried out by passive methods during the period of 28 days. The investigation of suspended particulate matter investigation focused on total suspended particles (TSP) and thoracic fraction called PM10. The presence of selected metals in the samples was detected by atomic absorption spectrometry. The surface concentrations of settled particulate matter were detected in the range from 276.43 μg cm-2 to 570.70 μg cm-2, mass concentrations of total suspended particulate matter from 59.028 to 114.583 μg m-3. PM10 concentration values reached about half of the TSP concentration values (PM10/TSP ratio was from 0.48 to 0.6). Higher percentage of metals was detected in suspended particulate matter in comparison to the settled particles. Higher values were detected for all metals (except iron and zinc) in each measured room.