My Own Private Bad-Air Day: Outdoor data underrate pollutant exposure

A new study suggests that most people inhale substantially more organic contaminants, including cancer-causing benzene, than is indicated by standard environmental risk assessments based on outdoor measurements.

SELF-DISSERVICE. Activities such as refueling a car expose people to contaminant-laden air.

“Ambient measurements at central sites aren’t good predictors of [personal] exposure,” says John Adgate of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.