8292044 Assessment of exposure to particulate aircraft and diesel engine exhaust for airport workers in The Netherlands for an epidemiological study

<h3>Objective</h3> Airport workers are exposed to aircraft engines exhaust and diesel engine exhaust from airport vehicles and machinery. However, health effect studies among airport workers are still scarce. We conducted an extensive measurement study to assess platform workers exposure to inhalable, respirable and ultrafine particulate matter at an airport in The Netherlands to characterize their exposure and to optimize the exposure assessment for an epidemiological study. <h3>Material and Methods</h3> All prevailing jobs with activities on the airside of the airport were divided into 10 similar exposure groups (SEGs). In total, 305 personal samples (sampling duration of 4-8 hours) were collected in August/September 2023. Personal measurements of inhalable dust, respirable dust and ultrafine particles (UFP) (real-time Naneos Partector 2) were carried out. Inhalable dust samples were analysed for several metals as markers of aircraft engine exhaust. Respirable dust samples were analysed for elementary carbon (EC) as a marker of diesel engine exhaust. During sampling workers carried GPS-loggers to identify their work locations. Real-time UFP levels have been analysed in relation to location at the airport. Mean shift-long and peak exposure to UFP (number, frequency and peak height) were estimated for each SEG. In addition, with linear mixed models the variation in exposure concentrations between and within SEGs were studied as well as other exposure determinants e.g. presence near diesel engines and aircrafts, meteorological conditions and number of aircraft movements. <h3>Results</h3> The respirable and inhalable dust exposure from aircraft and diesel engine exhaust was low and showed a lack of contrast between SEGs. Exposures to EC and UFP however pointed to large contrast between SEGs and would be informative in health effects studies. Also, correlations between personal EC and UFP mean concentrations and peaks (&gt;100K particles/cm3) were low (r=0.26-0.36) and the correlation between EC and UFP diameter was negligible (r=-0.06), suggesting that both exposure to EC and UFP will be informative in an epidemiological study. A study on acute (health) effects in this population of airport workers is currently ongoing.