An assessment of hopanes in settled dust and air as indicators of exposure to traffic-related air pollution in Windsor, Ontario

Traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) has been linked with several adverse health effects. We investigated hopanes, markers of primary particle emissions from gasoline and diesel engines, in house dust as an alternative approach for assessing exposure to TRAP in Windsor, Ontario.;Settled house dust was collected from the homes of 28 study participants (10 -- 13 yrs). The dust was then analyzed for a suite of hopanes by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. We calculated correlations between dust hopane concentrations and estimates of annual average NO2 concentrations derived from an existing LUR model.;Hopanes were consistently present in detectable quantities in house dust. Annual average outdoor NO2 estimated was moderately correlated with hopanes in house dust (r = 0.46; p<0.05). The correlations did not vary by infiltration efficiency or the presence of an attached garage. Hopanes measured in settled house dust show promise as an indicator of long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution.;Keywords: hopane; air pollution; traffic; dust; exposure; TRAP.