Indoor-Generated PM2.5 During COVID-19 Shutdowns Across California: Application of the PurpleAir Indoor-Outdoor Low-Cost Sensor Network.

ABSTRACT

Although evidences showed an overall reduction in outdoor air pollution levels across the globe due to COVID-19-related lockdown, no comprehensive assessment was available for indoor air quality during the period of stay-at-home orders, despite that the residential indoor environment contributes most to personal exposures. We examined temporal and diurnal variations of indoor PM2.5 based on real-time measurements from 139 indoor-outdoor co-located low-cost PurpleAir sensor sets across California for pre-, during, and post-lockdown periods in 2020 and "business-as-usual" periods in 2019. A two-step method was implemented to systematically control the quality of raw sensor data and calibrate the sensor data against co-located reference instruments. During the lockdown period, 17-24% higher indoor PM2.5 concentrations were observed in comparison to those in the 2019 business-as-usual period. In residential sites, a clear peak in PM2.5 concentrations in the afternoon and elevated evening levels toping at roughly 10 µg·m-3 was observed, which reflects enhanced human activity during lunch and dinner time (i.e., cooking) and possibly more cleaning and indoor movement that increase particle generation and resuspension in homes. The contribution of indoor-generated PM2.5 to total indoor concentrations increased as high as 80% during and post-lockdown periods compared to before lockdown.