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Percorrer por autor "Diogo, Carlos"

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  • Indoor air quality assessment in grocery stores
    Publication . Baptista, Teresa; Almeida-Silva, M.; Silva, Dário; Diogo, Carlos; Canha, Nuno
    Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) is a public and occupational health concern, as we are exposed to air pollutants daily given that we spend a great amount of our time in indoor environments. IAQ can be affected by numerous factors, from outdoor pollutants that get indoors through ventilation to building materials, furnishings, and activities carried by the building occupants. Exposure to air pollutants has been linked to a panoply of adverse effects on our health, well-being, and performance. The aim of this study was to assess the IAQ in grocery stores (GSs) in the municipality of Cascais in the Lisbon metropolitan area (Portugal) to characterize the workers’ occupational exposure to air pollutants. The study was conducted in 13 small “family” grocery stores. The IAQ monitoring campaign was conducted using low-cost sensor technologies and focused on several parameters, namely: carbon dioxide (CO2), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), temperature (T), relative humidity (RH). Overall, the IAQ of the studied GSs complied with Portuguese legislation, except for PM2.5, where 23% of GSs presented levels above the established limit value. The mean inhaled dose of workers during a workday was estimated to be 157.7 ± 57.2 μg for PM2.5 and 165.8 ± 56.0 μg for PM10. The IAQ assessment allowed the identification of the best strategies to improve worker experience in indoor workplace environments.
    2022-12Artigo científico Acesso aberto Ver mais
  • Influence of indoor air quality on sleep quality of university students in Lisbon
    Publication . Ramos, João; Belo, Joana; Silva, Dário; Diogo, Carlos; Almeida, Susana Marta; Canha, Nuno
    Sleep is a crucial aspect of human daily life since it allows us to recover from physical and psychological fatigue and its lack can bring several consequences to human health. People spend around one-third of their life sleeping but, despite that, their exposure to pollutants during sleep is often neglected. Specifically, students typically change their habits after entering university, due to the freedom that they are allowed at this stage of their lives. These habits often include their sleep patterns, which not only affects their health but their academic performance as well. This study aimed to assess the indoor air quality (IAQ) that university students are exposed to in their sleeping environment and how it affects their sleep quality. Firstly, an online survey, based on standardized questionnaires, was conducted on a sample of 1040 individuals to characterize sleep habits and, ultimately, to provide an overview of the sleep quality of the Portuguese population. Students were one of the population groups that showed worse results: only 31% had good sleep quality and only 62% showed good sleep health. Afterward, a study to assess sleep quality (by actigraphy and standardized questionnaires) and IAQ (by a monitoring unit based on low-cost sensors) during the sleeping period of two consecutive nights of 13 students in Lisbon university dorms was conducted. Mean levels of CO2 and VOCs above the established legislation were found during sleep, indicating that ventilation conditions were not sufficient to keep an acceptable IAQ. The temperature was also out of the acceptable comfort range during 44% of the sleeping time. The perceived sleep quality of students was found to be negatively associated with the number of awakenings and the mean levels of carbon dioxide and relative humidity during the sleeping period. These results confirm previous findings where some IAQ parameters may influence the sleep quality of the individuals, highlighting the importance to focus on the IAQ of sleeping environments as a strategy to improve the sleep quality of individuals.
    2022-02Artigo científico Acesso aberto Ver mais