Modeling of airborne particle exposure and effectiveness of engineering control strategies

Environmental tobacco smoke and particles emitted during cooking are among two very common activates which cause serious indoor air quality problem for residential environments. To better understand the potential effectiveness of engineering control strategies, a series of simulations were conducted in a single-floor seven-zone apartment. Control strategies investigated including dilution, source segregation and indoor air filtration unit. Air infiltration rate, inter-zonal air flows and concentration level between zones were evaluated by CONTAMW for various cooking and smoking activities. Steady-state and transient simulations incorporated with activity schedule were performed and exposure exercise was conducted. Results indicate that the effectiveness of the control schemes vary considerably. In some scenarios, operating the indoor air filtration unit does not reduce the concentration. © 2004 Published by Elsevier Ltd.