Indoor and Outdoor Relationships of Atmospheric Particulates in Oman

Abstract

Suspended particulate matter was sampled simultaneously indoors and outdoors using two high volume samplers at a typical residential house in the Al-Suwayq area, Oman. Indoor/outdoor relationships were examined to study the impact of the outdoor air on the indoor environment. The dust samples were analysed for their heavy metal content and their total hydrocarbon concentration. The results showed that indoor suspended particulate matter concentrations broadly followed those of the outdoor concentrations. Generally, the variation in the concentration of the indoor suspended particulate matter was heavily dependent on that outdoors suggesting that outdoor sources were contributing to indoor particulate matter. For particulate matter and most of the heavy metals, the indoor/outdoor ratios were found to be below one. On the other hand, the indoor/outdoor ratios for zinc and the total hydrocarbons were found to be higher indoors. This was attributed to cooking and cleaning activities inside the house. The information obtained in this study appears, from a literature search, to be the only data for indoor atmospheric dust collected in Oman. The study highlights the importance of understanding the relationship between indoor and outdoor environments.