Autor(es):
Furst, Leonardo ; Cipoli, Yago ; Yubero, Eduardo ; Galindo, Nuria ; Viegas, Carla ; Dias, Marta ; Nunes, Teresa ; Igrejas, Getúlio ; Feliciano, Manuel ; Alves, Célia
Data: 2025
Identificador Persistente: http://hdl.handle.net/10362/183469
Origem: Repositório Institucional da UNL
Assunto(s): Bioburden; IAQ; PM; Retail store; VOCS; Environmental Engineering; Civil and Structural Engineering; Geography, Planning and Development; Building and Construction; SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
Descrição
Funding Information: The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support by national funds FCT/MCTES to CESAM (UID Centro de Estudos do Ambiente e Mar (CESAM) + LA/P/0094/2020), to SusTEC (LA/P/0007/2020), to CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020), to CeDRI (UIDB/05757/2020 and UIDP/05757/2020) and also financial support to PhD fellow students Leonardo Furst (SFRH/BD/08461/2020) and Yago Cipoli (SFRH/BD/04992/2021). H&TRC authors gratefully acknowledge the FCT/MCTES national support through the UIDB/05608/2020 (https://doi.org/10.54499/UIDB/05608/2020) and UIDP/05608/2020 (https://doi.org/10.54499/UIDP/05608/2020. This study was also supported by FCT through the project \u201CAir Pollution in an African Megacity: Source Apportionment and Health Implications\u201D (APAM, DOI: 10.54499/2022.04240.PTDC). Funding Information: The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support by national funds FCT/MCTES to CESAM ( UIDP/50017/2020 , UIDB/50017/2020 and LAP/0094/2020 ), to SusTEC ( LA/P/0007/2020 ), to CIMO ( UIDB/00690/2020 ), to CeDRI ( UIDB/05757/2020 and UIDP/05757/2020 ) and also financial support to PhD fellow students Leonardo Furst ( SFRH/BD/08461/2020 ) and Yago Cipoli ( SFRH/BD/04992/2021 ). The authors would like to express their gratitude towards Bianca Gomes, Renata Cervantes, and Pedro Pena from the Health & Technology Research Center (H&TRC - ESTeSL) for their valuable contributions to the microorganism analysis in this work. Publisher Copyright: © 2025 The Authors
This paper provides a comprehensive assessment of indoor and outdoor air quality within a home improvement and gardening store chain in northeastern Portugal. In December 2021 and January 2022, two multipollutant systems were installed in the store and outdoors to assess air quality. Continuous monitoring included particulate matter below 10 µm (PM10), CO2 and comfort parameters. PM10 samples were collected using gravimetric samplers during both occupied and vacant periods. These samples were then analysed for carbonaceous constituents and metal(loid)s. Additionally, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), carbonyls, bacteria, and fungi were passively sampled. Results showed higher indoor concentrations of PM10 during labour hours (45.4 ± 15.2 μg/m3), while outdoor values of 27.1 ± 9.96 μg/m3 were recorded. The elemental characterisation of PM10 revealed a high abundance of soil-related elements indoors, suggesting that resuspension is one of the primary sources. The most abundant elements were Ca, Fe, and Zn, with concentrations of 658 ± 297, 273 ± 141, and 172 ± 67.4 ng/m³, respectively. Outdoors, elements related to tyre and brake wear and road dust were predominant, indicating emissions from non-exhaust traffic emissions as the main source. A prevalence of α-pinene, limonene, and hexanal was found indoors, most likely related to wood products. Fungi with clinical relevance and toxigenic potential, and higher bacterial loads were observed in the gardening and heating sectors of the store. This study underscores the importance of investigating less-studied stores, as they may exhibit pollutant levels that exceed health protection thresholds.
