The influence of relative humidity and ground material on indoor walking-induced particle resuspension

Abstract The resuspension of indoor particulate matters caused by people indoor walking could affect indoor air quality and human health. Therefore, it is particularly important to study the resuspension rules of the particulate matters in different indoor environments. The influence of the ground material and the relative humidity on resuspension of the particulate matters were investigated under three kinds of ground materials and three different relative humidity. Results showed that different relative humidity and different ground materials had different effects on the mass concentration of the particulate matters. In addition, different particle sizes had diverse influence on the mass concentration. Compared with low-level loop pile carpet and shaggy carpet, hardwood floor was more conductive to human health which was less likely to cause the resuspension of the particulate matters. At the same time, relative humidity had a great influence on the resuspension of the particulate matters. With the increase of relative humidity, the resuspension rate of fine particulate matters decreased.