TY - CPAPER KW - Indoor environment department KW - Exposure KW - Airflow and pollutant transport group KW - Countermeasures to chemical and biological threats KW - Shelter-in-place KW - Airflow modeling KW - Comis KW - Emergency response AU - Michael D Sohn AU - Richard G Sextro AU - David M Lorenzetti AB -

An accidental or intentional outdoor release of pollutants can produce a hazardous plume, potentially contaminating large portions of a metropolitan area as it disperses downwind. To minimize health consequences on the populace, government and research organizations often recommend sheltering in place when evacuation is impractical. Some reports also recommend "hardening" an indoor shelter, for example by applying duct tape to prevent leakage into a bathroom. However, few studies have quantified the perceived beneficial effects of sheltering and hardening, or examined the limits of their applicability. In this paper, we examine how sheltering and hardening might reduce exposure levels under different building and meteorological conditions (e.g., wind direction). We predict concentrations and exposure levels for several conditions, and discuss the net benefits from several sheltering and hardening options.

BT - 10th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate - Indoor Air 2005, Sept. 4-9, 2005 C1 -

4

CY - Beijing, China DA - 09/2005 LA - eng N2 -

An accidental or intentional outdoor release of pollutants can produce a hazardous plume, potentially contaminating large portions of a metropolitan area as it disperses downwind. To minimize health consequences on the populace, government and research organizations often recommend sheltering in place when evacuation is impractical. Some reports also recommend "hardening" an indoor shelter, for example by applying duct tape to prevent leakage into a bathroom. However, few studies have quantified the perceived beneficial effects of sheltering and hardening, or examined the limits of their applicability. In this paper, we examine how sheltering and hardening might reduce exposure levels under different building and meteorological conditions (e.g., wind direction). We predict concentrations and exposure levels for several conditions, and discuss the net benefits from several sheltering and hardening options.

PB - Tsinghua University Press PP - Beijing, China PY - 2005 SP - 1792 EP - 1796 T2 - 10th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate - Indoor Air 2005, Sept. 4-9, 2005 T3 - 10th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate - Indoor Air 2005, Sept. 4-9, 2005 TI - Assessing Sheltering-In-Place Responses to Outdoor Toxic Releases VL - 2(6) ER -