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More than 1 million premature deaths in Asia annually are estimated to be associated with indoor air quality. HEPA (high-efficiency particulate air) filter air purifiers (APs) are widely used in urban Chinese residences by the growing middle class, as public awareness of air pollution increases. Currently, understanding of how particle size affects particle removal is inconsistent, and the rate at which different particle types are removed remains largely unknown. Therefore, this investigation aimed to determine the relationship between particle size and the removal efficiency of particles, and how efficiently ambient air is filtered compared to particle types which are typically used in standard tests (tobacco smoke, dust and pollen). Three of the most popular AP models in China were tested in China's largest indoor controlled chamber laboratory and the removal efficiencies of particles in the 18-514 nm range were identified. Each AP had a distinct profile of removal efficiency against particle size, but the three APs shared similarities in performance, with removal efficiency consistently lowest at 200-250 nm. This size fraction is important in an exposure context as these particles are abundant in ambient air in mega-cities, can penetrate through building shells effectively, remain airborne for long periods of time and can penetrate the deepest areas of the lungs. Ambient air particles were removed at a similar rate to test particles; this confirms that the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers' (AHAM) standards are a suitable proxy for "real world" performance., (Copyright © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Concerns over the potential negative health effects from exposure to air pollution have led to interest in assessing personal exposure and finding ways to reduce it. As journey-time exposure accounts for a disproportionately high amount of an individual's total exposure, this article assesses the potential to apply least-cost techniques within a GIS in order to identify paths of lower journey-time exposure. The methodology adopted uses pollution surfaces for PM10 and CO generated by the dispersion model ADMS, with an analysis mask derived from OS MasterMap to create a least-cost surface. Actual routes taken by a cohort of 11–13 year old children on their journeys to school are used to compare observed journey time exposure with the exposure along alternative routes generated using the least-cost path function. While the least-cost approach proved to be successful in defining low exposure routes the ability to scale up this approach is constrained by the amount of editing required to successfully create an analysis mask from OS MasterMap data. Such alternative routes have the potential to assist in promoting safer environmental choices, however, their likelihood of adoption is dependant on a number of social and environmental influences which affect an individual's route choice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]