Understanding the patterns and health impact of indoor air pollutant exposures in Bradford, UK: a study protocol.

INTRODUCTION: Relative to outdoor air pollution, there is little evidence examining the composition and concentrations of indoor air pollution and its associated health impacts. The INGENIOUS project aims to provide the comprehensive understanding of indoor air pollution in UK homes. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: 'Real Home Assessment' is a cross-sectional, multimethod study within INGENIOUS. This study monitors indoor air pollutants over 2 weeks using low-cost sensors placed in three rooms in 300 Born in Bradford (BiB) households. Building audits are completed by researchers, and participants are asked to complete a home survey and a health and behaviour questionnaire, in addition to recording household activities and health symptoms on at least 1 weekday and 1 weekend day. A subsample of 150 households will receive more intensive measurements of volatile organic compound and particulate matter for 3 days. Qualitative interviews conducted with 30 participants will identify key barriers and enablers of effective ventilation practices. Outdoor air pollution is measured in 14 locations across Bradford to explore relationships between indoor and outdoor air quality. Data will be analysed to explore total concentrations of indoor air pollutants, how these vary with building characteristics, and whether they are related to health symptoms. Interviews will be analysed through content and thematic analysis. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval has been obtained from the NHS Health Research Authority Yorkshire and the Humber (Bradford Leeds) Research Ethics Committee (22/YH/0288). We will disseminate findings using our websites, social media, publications and conferences. Data will be open access through the BiB, the Open Science Framework and the UK Data Service.

An assessment of vapour pressure estimation methods.

Laboratory measurements of vapour pressures for atmospherically relevant compounds were collated and used to assess the accuracy of vapour pressure estimates generated by seven estimation methods and impacts on predicted secondary organic aerosol. Of the vapour pressure estimation methods that were applicable to all the test set compounds, the Lee-Kesler [Reid et al., The Properties of Gases and Liquids, 1987] method showed the lowest mean absolute error and the Nannoolal et al. [Nannoonal et al., Fluid Phase Equilib., 2008, 269, 117-133] method showed the lowest mean bias error (when both used normal boiling points estimated using the Nannoolal et al. [Nannoolal et al., Fluid Phase Equilib., 2004, 226, 45-63] method). The effect of varying vapour pressure estimation methods on secondary organic aerosol (SOA) mass loading and composition was investigated using an absorptive partitioning equilibrium model. The Myrdal and Yalkowsky [Myrdal and Yalkowsky, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 1997, 36, 2494-2499] vapour pressure estimation method using the Nannoolal et al. [Nannoolal et al., Fluid Phase Equilib., 2004, 226, 45-63] normal boiling point gave the most accurate estimation of SOA loading despite not being the most accurate for vapour pressures alone.

Critical assessment of liquid density estimation methods for multifunctional organic compounds and their use in atmospheric science.

In order to model the properties and chemical composition of secondary organic aerosol (SOA), estimated physical property data for many thousands of organic compounds are required. Seven methods for estimating liquid density are assessed against experimental data for a test set of 56 multifunctional organic compounds. The group contribution method of Schroeder coupled with the Rackett equation using critical properties by Nannoolal was found to give the best liquid density values for this test set. During this work some problems with the representation of certain groups (aromatic amines and phenols) within the critical property estimation methods were identified, highlighting the importance (and difficulties) of deriving the parameters of group contribution methods from good quality experimental data. A selection of the estimation methods are applied to the 2742 compounds of an atmospheric chemistry mechanism, which showed that they provided consistent liquid density values for compounds with such atmospherically important (but poorly studied) functional groups as hydroperoxide, peroxide, peroxyacid, and PAN. Estimated liquid density values are also presented for a selection of compounds predicted to be important in atmospheric SOA. Hygroscopic growth factor (a property expected to depend on liquid density) has been calculated for a wide range of particle compositions. A low sensitivity of the growth factor to liquid density was found, and a single density value of 1350 kg·m(-3) could be used for all multicomponent SOA in the calculation of growth factors for comparison with experimentally measured values in the laboratory or the field without incurring significant error.