Biosensors for Direct Monitoring and Indoor Air Quality and Exposure Assessment Issues

Research on indoor air pollution is motivated by the following three maxims (1) individuals spend up to 95 percent of their time indoors in residences, work place, intransit and in entertainment environments; (2) indoor air pollutant concentrations are frequently higher than corresponding outdoor pollutant concentrations; and (3) if all ambient air pollution standards were attained, health effects associated with air pollution would not be eliminated because exposure to pollutants generated indoors would remain at the same levels. Biosensor monitoring for indoor air pollution research and exposure assessment is inspired by a strong desire for direct exposure monitoring because, presently, the majority of exposure sampling studies combine area monitoring with time budget information to estimate exposure to air pollutants as the initial step to exposure assessment.The objective of this paper is to identify the potential for direct monitoring biosensors for one of the newest disciplines of environmental research: Indoor air quality and exposure assessment. An historical perspective is used to elaborate on the three maxims of indoor air and exposure research, to identify priorities of research in the discipline, to set quality control requirements for biosensor samplers, and to list unique attributes of pollutant sampling devices applicable only to indoor environments. Biosensors for direct air sampling and exposure assessment must have the following attributes: (1) uniquely, they must be personal samplers; (2) ideally, they must measure both pollutant concentrations and time spent at each of several microenvironments; and (3) hopefully, they must measure several variables simultaneously including multiple pollutants and physical parameters. This paper introduces the present state of the art of indoor pollutant and exposure sampling, and challenges the biosensor scientific community to improve on current capabilities by using biosensor technology.