A preliminary investigation of exposure factors among residents in Taiyuan city of Shanxi Province, China

Objective To obtain the regional environmental exposure factors through an investigation in Taiyuan city of Shanxi Province, China.

Methods Based on the methodology for exposure factors in Technical Regulation of Investigation on Exposure Factors, the method of questionnaire survey and actual measurement were used to investigate the exposure factors including respiration, intake, body surface area, daily water intake, daily dietary intake, indoor and outdoor activity time, traffic time, and mean soil contact time in Taiyuan city of Shanxi Province from September 2016 to January 2017.

Results In Taiyuan, the mean body height was 171.21 cm for adult males and 159.67 cm for adult females, and the mean body weight was 69.14 kg for adult males and 59.23 kg for adult females. The body surface area was 1.76 m² for adult males and 1.58 m² for adult females. The respiration rate was 13.34 m³/d for adults in this city, with a range of 12.40-14.30 m³/d in different age groups. The daily water intake for adults was 1.35 L/d, and rice/flour products and vegetables were the main food for the residents, accounting for 33.5% and 34.4%, respectively, of the total daily dietary intake. The adult residents in this city had a mean indoor activity time of 19.17 h/d, a mean outdoor activity time of 3.83 h/d, and a traffic time of 0.91 h/d. The mean soil contact time was 0.92 h/d, the mean time was 8.54 min/d, and the mean swimming time was 119.15 min/m.

Conclusion Exposure factors of residents in Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province were obtained, which provides data support for the accuracy of local environmental health risk assessment.