Designing monitoring networks to represent outdoor human exposure

Measurements of outdoor human exposure to suspended particulate matter (PM) are always constrained by available resources. An effective network design requires tradeoffs between variables measured, the number of sampling locations, sample duration, and sampling frequency. Sampling sites are needed to represent neighborhood and urban spatial scales with minimal influences from nearby sources. Although most PM measurements for determining compliance with standards are taken over 24-h periods every third to sixth day, outdoor human exposure assessment requires measurements taken continuously throughout the day, preferably over durations of 1 h or less. More detailed particle size and chemistry data are also desirable, as smaller size fractions and specific chemicals may be better indicators of adverse health effects than total mass samples.