Effectiveness of an Educational Intervention on Portable Air Cleaner Use to Reduce Indoor PM2.5 in Residences in Toronto

Effectiveness of an Educational Intervention on Portable Air Cleaner Use to Reduce Indoor PM2.5 in Residences in Toronto

Hoskin, Zoe1; Siegel, Jeffery12; Haines, Sarah1
1Department of Civil and Mineral Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
2Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

Keywords: behaviour change, low-cost sensors, science communication, particulate matter, indoor air quality.

Topic(s): Aerosol Physics, Instrumentation

Canadians are indoors 90% of the time, making indoor PM2.5 an important pollutant that can cause and worsen respiratory and cardiac disease. Portable air cleaners (PACs) can effectively reduce indoor PM2.5 concentrations and improve health outcomes including asthma symptoms (Butz et al., 2025), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (Hansel et al., 2022), and the transmission of airborne respiratory viral infections (Myers et al., 2022).

However, the cost-saving and health-saving effects of PACs depend on their use. PAC effectiveness can be improved by placing a PAC near the source of PM2.5, closing windows while using a PAC, running a PAC on high during a source and for 45 minutes after, and keeping the airflow of the PAC free from obstruction. In this study, we tested the effectiveness of a novel PAC-based educational intervention at increasing occupants’ PAC use and reducing PM2.5 concentrations in their homes.

This study builds on previous research that examines the effectiveness of PACs in real-world environments. Here, we assess the impact of an educational intervention on indoor PM2.5 and explore how PAC use patterns affect indoor PM2.5. Participants with high indoor sources of PM2.5 were recruited, and their PAC use patterns and indoor PM2.5 concentrations were monitored before and after educational resources were shared. Participant surveys were employed to uncover reasons for behaviours often noted in the literature such as turning off PACs.

Preliminary results show a statistically significant reduction in indoor PM2.5 in homes for 48 hours following the intervention; however, the impact is no longer significant when including 2-3 weeks of data following the intervention. These results suggest that an educational intervention is a good way to briefly improve the effectiveness of PACs in homes. Follow-up educational interventions or reminders might be needed to create sustained change that can reduce the burden on our healthcare system.

References

Butz, A. M., Matsui, E. C., Breysse, P., Curtin-Brosnan, J., Eggleston, P., Diette, G., Williams, D., Yuan, J., Bernert, J. & Rand, C. (2011). A randomized trial of air cleaners and a health coach to improve indoor air quality for inner-city children with asthma and secondhand smoke exposure. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 165(8), 741-748.

Hansel, N. N., Putcha, N., Woo, H., Peng, R., Diette, G. B., Fawzy, A., Wise, R., Romero, K., Davis, M., Rule, A., Eakin, M., Breysse, P., McCormack & Koehler, K. (2022). Randomized clinical trial of air cleaners to improve indoor air quality and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease health: results of the CLEAN AIR study. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 205(4), 421-430.

Myers, N. T., Laumbach, R. J., Black, K. G., et al. (2022). Indoor Air, 32(4), e13029.