Indoor Exposure to Fine Particulate Matter and Practical Mitigation Approaches

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Overwhelming evidence exists that exposure to outdoor fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is associated with a range of short-term and chronic health impacts, including asthma exacerbation, acute and chronic bronchitis, heart attacks, increased susceptibility to respiratory infections, and premature death, with the burden of these health effects falling more heavily on underserved and marginalized communities. Although less studied to date, indoor exposure to PM2.5 is also gaining attention as a potential source of adverse health effects, particularly given that Americans spend 90 percent of their lives indoors and indoor PM2.5 levels can exceed outdoor levels.

To better understand the sources of indoor PM2.5, the possible health effects of exposure to indoor PM2.5, and engineering approaches and interventions to reduce those exposure risks, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened a virtual workshop, Indoor Exposure to Fine Particulate Matter and Practical Mitigation Approaches, on April 14, 21, and 28, 2021. The workshop focused on exposures that occur in residential and school buildings and on existing and practical mitigation technologies and approaches. This publication summarizes the presentation and discussion of the workshop.

Publication information

176 pages · 6 x 9 · paperback
ISBN Paperback: 0-309-26328-X
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-26329-8
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17226/26331

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National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and National Academy of Engineering. 2022. Indoor Exposure to Fine Particulate Matter and Practical Mitigation Approaches: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

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Richard L. Corsi

Richard L. Corsi, Ph.D., P.E. [Chair] is the H. Chik M. Erzurulu Dean of the Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science at Portland State University. Prior to joining PSU, Dr. Corsi was a faculty member, department chair, and endowed research chair at the University of Texas at Austin in the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering. Dr. Corsi is an internationally-recognized expert in the field of indoor air quality, with a specific interest in physical and chemical interactions between pollutants and indoor materials. He and his team have published nearly 270 peer-reviewed papers stemming from 70 funded research projects and supervision of over 120 students in research. He was inducted into the International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climates’ Academy of Fellows in 2008, and currently serves as the President of that Academy. Dr. Corsi was a member of the planning committee responsible for the 2016 National Academies report "Health Risks of Indoor Exposure to Particulate Matter: Workshop Summary". He received his B.S. degree in Environmental Resources Engineering from Humboldt State University, where he was honored as a Distinguished Alumnus in 2006, and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of California at Davis, where he was honored with a Distinguished Alumni Medal from the College of Engineering in 2016.

Seema Bhangar

Seema Bhangar, Ph.D is the Senior Indoor Air Quality Manager at WeWork, a commercial real estate company that provides flexible workspaces. Her mission is to drive the use of new science and technology for designing, building and operating buildings that are better for health and productivity, and more resilient and energy efficient. She specializes in indoor air quality research projects with a focus on applying human-centric approaches to environmental sensing in buildings and transportation systems. Dr. Bhangar previously served as Technical Lead and Product Manager, for the design and development of next-generation indoor sensing devices for Aclima, Inc. She is a regular peer reviewer for journals including Indoor Air, Building and Environment, and Environmental Science & Technology. Dr. Bhangar earned a B.A.S. from Stanford University and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from University of California, Berkeley.

Wanyu R. Chan

Wanyu Rengie Chan, Ph.D. is a Research Scientist and Deputy Indoor Environment Group Leader in Energy Analysis and Environmental Impact Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Her work focus on characterizing indoor air quality and implications to human exposures in residential and commercial buildings. Dr. Chan led a recent field study to evaluate the role of mechanical ventilation on indoor air quality in new California homes. She is part of an ongoing project funded by Department of Energy, Building America Program to study indoor air quality in new homes across different U.S. regions. Dr. Chan has also modeled the health benefits from filtration of ambient PM2.5 and during wildfire smoke. She joined Berkeley Lab as a graduate student and worked on the evaluation of shelter-in-place effectiveness. Dr. Chan earned her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from University of California, Berkeley in 2006.

Elizabeth C. Matsui

Elizabeth Matsui, M.D., M.H.S. is Professor of Population Health and Pediatrics at the Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin, where she is also the Associate Director of the Health Transformation Research Institute. She is a leading international expert on environmental allergies and asthma. Her research focuses on examining the impact of allergen exposure on allergic disease. Dr. Matsui serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and JACI: In Practice and is a member of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology and the American Academy of Pediatrics. She serves on the National Academies Standing Committee on Medical and Epidemiological Aspects of Air Pollution on U.S. Government Employees and Their Families. Dr. Matsui received her undergraduate degree in molecular biology and her M.D. from Vanderbilt University. She also completed a fellowship in Pediatric Allergy/Immunology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and a Master of Health Science in epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Linda A. McCauley

Linda A. McCauley, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N., F.A.A.O.H.N. (NAM) is Professor and Dean of Emory University’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing. Dr.McCauley is an innovative research on children’s environmental health, vulnerable workers and occupational health, environmental justice, and the impacts of climate change on human health. She was inducted into the Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Hall of Fame in 2016 and is a Fellow of both the American Academy of Nursing and the American Academy of Occupational Health Nurses. Dr. McCauley’s research has resulted in more than 150 publications, ongoing consultations, leadership on occupational and environmental advisory panels, testimony to government oversight bodies, and presentations to international audiences. She received a bachelor of nursing degree from the University of North Carolina, a masters in nursing from Emory, and a doctorate degree in environmental health and epidemiology from the University of Cincinnati. She elected a Member of the Institute of Medicine (now the National Academy of Medicine) in 2008, has served on numerous National Academies committees, and is currently co-chair of the National Academy of Medicine’s Committee on Primary Care and a member of EPA’s Children’s Health Protection Advisory Committee

Kimberly A. Prather

Kimberly A. Prather, Ph.D. (NAE, NAS) holds a joint appointment as Professor in Chemistry and Biochemistry at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego. Her research involves the development and application in field and lab studies of real-time measurements of size-resolved chemistry of aerosols. Dr. Prather is involved in aerosol source apportionment studies and her group is working to better understand the impact of specific aerosol sources on health and climate. Dr. Prather was formerly a member of the Fine Particle Monitoring Subcommittee of EPA’s Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee. She is on a number of editorial boards for journals including Aerosol Science and Technology and is a member of professional societies including the American Association for Aerosol Research, the American Chemical Society, and the American Geophysical Union. Dr. Prather received her B.S. and Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California, Davis. She was elected a Member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2019 and the National Academy of Sciences in 2020.

David Y. Pui

David Y.H. Pui, Ph.D. (NAE) is Regents Professor and the L.M. Fingerson/TSI Inc. Chair in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. He also serves as Director of the University’s Particle Technology Laboratory and the Center for Filtration Research. Dr. Pui has a broad range of research experience in aerosol science and technology, including particle instrumentation development and filtration solutions for air pollution control; and developing instrumentation for generating, sampling and measuring airborne particles. He has authored more than 320 peer-reviewed journal papers and has over 30 granted patents, and has developed/co-developed several widely used commercial aerosol instruments. Dr. Pui previously served as President of the American Association for Aerosol Research and of the International Aerosol Research Assembly consisting of 17 international aerosol associations. He earned bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of Minnesota. Dr. Pui was elected a Member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2016.

Jeffrey A. Siegel

Jeffrey Siegel, Ph.D. is Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Toronto and a member of the university’s Building Engineering Research Group. He holds joint appointments at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and the Department of Physical & Environmental Sciences. Dr. Siegel is a Fellow of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and a member of the Academy of Fellows of the International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate (ISIAQ). His research interests including healthy and sustainable buildings, ventilation and indoor air quality in residential and commercial buildings, control of indoor particulate matter, the indoor microbiome, and moisture interactions with indoor chemistry and biology. He holds a B.Sc. from Swarthmore College and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.

Marina E. Vance

Marina Vance, Ph.D. is Assistant Professor and McLagan Family Faculty Fellow in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at University of Colorado (CU) Boulder; and holds a courtesy appointment in the university’s Environmental Engineering program. Her research is focused on air quality, particularly on measuring emissions and understanding the dynamics of aerosols in the context of ambient and indoor air quality. She is the Principal Investigator of the HOMEChem (House Observations of Microbial and Environmental Chemistry) research initiative, which incorporated measurements from over 20 research groups from 13 universities to identify the most important aspects of the chemistry that controls the indoor environment. Dr. Vance earned B.S. (Sanitation and Environmental Engineering) and M.S. (Environmental Engineering) degrees from the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (Brazil) and a Ph.D. (Civil and Environmental Engineering) from Virginia Tech.

David A. Butler

David A. Butler, Ph.D., is the J. Herbert Hollomon Scholar of the National Academy of Engineering, in the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. He previously held an appointment as Scholar in the National Academies’ Health and Medicine Division. Before joining the National Academies, Dr. Butler served as an analyst for the U.S. Congress Office of Technology Assessment, was a research associate in the Department of Environmental Health of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and conducted research at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. He has directed several National Academies studies on environmental health and risk assessment topics, including ones that produced “Clearing the Air: Asthma and Indoor Air Exposures”; “Damp Indoor Spaces and Health”; “Climate Change, the Indoor Environment, and Health”; and “Health Risks of Indoor Exposure to Particulate Matter: Workshop Summary”. Dr. Butler earned his B.S. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering, with a specialization in biomedical engineering, from the University of Rochester and his Ph.D. in Public Policy Analysis from Carnegie Mellon University. He is a recipient of the National Academies’ Cecil Medal for Research.

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Indoor Exposure to Fine Particulate Matter and Practical Mitigation Approaches – A Workshop

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