ExpoApp: An integrated system to assess multiple personal environmental exposures
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Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
To assess environmental exposures at the individual level, new assessment methods and tools are required. We developed an exposure assessment system (ExpoApp) for smartphones. ExpoApp integrates: (i) geo-location and accelerometry measurements from a waist attached smartphone, (ii) data from portable monitors, (iii) geographic information systems, and (iv) individual's information. ExpoApp calculates time spent in microenvironments, physical activity level, inhalation rate, and environmental exposures and doses (e.g., green spaces, inhaled ultrafine particles- UFP). We deployed ExpoApp in a panel study of 158 adults from five cities (Amsterdam and Utrecht- the Netherlands, Basel- Switzerland, Norwich- UK, and Torino- Italy) with an UFP monitor. To evaluate ExpoApp, participants also carried a reference accelerometer (ActiGraph) and completed a travel-activity diary (TAD). System reliability and validity of measurements were evaluated by comparing the monitoring failure rate and the agreement on time spent in microenvironments and physical activity with the reference tools. There were only significant failure rate differences between ExpoApp and ActiGraph in Norwich. Agreement on time in microenvironments and physical activity level between ExpoApp and reference tools was 86.6% (86.5–86.7) and 75.7% (71.5–79.4), respectively. ExpoApp estimated that participants inhaled 16.5 × 1010 particles/day of UFP and had almost no contact with green spaces (24% of participants spent ≥30 min/day in green spaces). Participants with more contact with green spaces had higher inhaled dose of UFP, except for the Netherlands, where the relationship was the inverse. ExpoApp is a reliable system and provides accurate individual's measurements, which may help to understand the role of environmental exposures on the origin and course of diseases.
Date Issued
2019-05-01
Date Acceptance
2019-02-21
Citation
Environment International, 2019, 126, pp.494-503
ISSN
0160-4120
Publisher
Elsevier
Start Page
494
End Page
503
Journal / Book Title
Environment International
Volume
126
Copyright Statement
© 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/BY-NC-ND/4.0/).
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/BY-NC-ND/4.0/).
Sponsor
Commission of the European Communities
Identifier
http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000462597500057&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
Grant Number
308610
Subjects
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Environmental Sciences
Environmental Sciences & Ecology
Personal exposure monitoring
Ultrafine particles
Inhalation
Green spaces
Microenvironments
ULTRAFINE PARTICLES
BLACK CARBON
EXPOSOME
SMARTPHONE
SENSORS
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2019-03-05