Exposure
Although
Canadians and Americans
only spend an average of five to six percent of their time in vehicles,Because of considerable daily
variability in TRAP concentrations during the study, filter presence
itself was not a perfect indicator of in-vehicle pollutant exposure;
indeed, some participants were exposed to higher in-vehicle pollutant
concentrations during the filtered exposure because of substantially
higher outdoor pollutant concentrations on the “filtered”
study day. As a result, the in-vehicle pollutant measurements were
more appropriate for use in health analyses, owing to less exposure
misclassification.While this study only looked at the benefit
of cabin air filtration
when using “outdoor air” mode, using “recirculation”
mode can also reduce in-vehicle exposures to pollutants from outside
the vehicle, particularly when a cabin air filter is in place. However,
using the recirculation mode for extended periods of time may lead
to elevated concentrations of other contaminants, including COIn-vehicle TRAP exposures may affect commuters’
cardiovascular
and stress responses and affect cognitive function. We demonstrated
the effectiveness of cabin air filtration at reducing in-vehicle pollution
exposures. Cabin air filtration using regularly maintained, best-available
technologies may reduce in-vehicle exposures and protect health.