Aims: The health effects of school air on children are poorly known. BREATHE (brain development and air pollution ultrafine particles (UFP) in school children) aims to investigate pollutants from traffic origin due to their potential neurotoxicological effect.
Methods: Air sampling was carried out at 40 primary schools in Barcelona (20 high-traffic + 20 low-traffic). Working memory and sustained attention was assessed in around 100 children per school four times. Indoor and outdoor sampling of UFP concentrations was measured with PCIS impactors (Sioutas Personal Cascade Impactors) including chemical determination of greater than 65 elements and components via acid digestion and leaching (ICP-MS, ICP-OES, IC, NH4+ selective electrode, OCEC thermo-optical analysis). Elemental carbon (EC) was measured continuously with aetelometers.
Results: Indoor and outdoor particle mass and EC was higher than expected for a typical Mediterranean environment. UFP dominated outdoors (Outdoor/Indoor mass ratios were greater than 1) due to primary and secondary traffic emissions. Outdoor/Indoor mass ratios were less than 1 for coarse particles in high and low traffic schools, due to indoor sources such as dust re-suspension and entrainment. On average, outdoor greater than indoor for major and trace elements (O/I ratios ranged between 0.9 and 7.3). Metal contents are higher outdoors (with the exception of Zn) while EC showed a high penetration with a perfect indoor/outdoor correlation in several of the schools depending on the construction materials.
Conclusions: Overall, UF particles dominated outdoors and Coarse particle mass dominated indoors. Effects on neurobehaviour will be further evaluated.
