Variability of personal chemical exposure in eight office buildings in Sweden

This paper presents a study on the variability in chemical exposures or individuals that are working in eight different office buildings in Sweden. The variability among buildings and the variability among individuals has been evaluated for a selected number of detected VOCs along with the ratio between the two variances.

Personal, indoor and outdoor VOC exposures in a probability sample of children

This paper reports the distribution of VOC exposures, and explores the statistical associations between concentrations and common sources and modifiers of exposure, and examines the associations between personal, indoor, and outdoor exposure levels in children.

IAQ in office buildings located in the north and in the south of Italy

An investigation method based on the HACCP system was applied to eleven representativeoffice buildings with HVAC system located in different latitudes in Italy, to evaluate themicrobiological quality of the air supplied. Bacterial and fungal levels near supply airdiffusers pointed out medium-low contamination and analysis of data showed a highermicrobial load in the buildings located in the South of Italy with respect to those in the North.IAQ of five buildings was examined in more detail. Air samples demonstrated an overallgood microbial removal efficiency of the examined HVAC system.

Setting indoor air guidelines in Austria

Public health services are increasingly confronted with inquiries from the public concerningindoor air pollution. But so far no standardized procedures have been applied by authoritiesand experts in this field.

Recommendations for establishing target values and guidance values for volatile organic compounds (VOC) in indoor air

Toxicologically derived guidelines for the evaluation of VOC concentrations are still sparse.Therefore a schema is proposed for establishing target or intervention values which includesfollowing basics: i) Guidelines are derived from statistical values of representative studies. ii)Guidelines should refer to standardized analytical methods. iii) Guidelines should exist for allvolatile indoor air contaminants. iv) Possibility of dynamic adaptation, if the VOC mixturechanges. v) Up-to-dateness. vi) TVOC concept and values for groups of VOC should beincluded.

Evaluation of gas-phase air cleaning devices - full-scale chamber test methods and results

Various air cleaning technologies and products are commercially available to remove VOCsfrom indoor environment. By conducting full-scale chamber tests, this paper compares theremoval characteristics for VOCs between three commercial portable room air cleaners,representing three major types of technology: sorption filtration, ultraviolet-photo-catalyticoxidation (UV-PCO) and ozone oxidation.

Passive parallel VOCs and ventilation rate sampler

Ventilation is the most effective procedure to reduce indoor air pollutant. Volatile organiccompounds (VOCs), which cause health related symptoms, are often detected in the indoorenvironment. The way of ventilation should be decided depending on the level of VOCs. Thelevel of VOCs and ventilation rate are usually measured individually. This study will proposea simple method to measure both the ventilation rate, by perfluorocarbon tracer gas technique(PFT), and VOCs concentration immediately by using a single sampler.

Experimental and numerical VOC concentration field analysis from flooring material in a ventilated room

The aim of this study is to analyse the impact of volatile organic compounds emissions from asolid flooring material on the concentration field in a ventilated room. A field study has beenconducted in the CSTB experimental house MARIA. Measurements were performed in a testroom recently equipped with a flooring material made of pine wood and under controlledventilation conditions. a-Pinene was selected as tracer from flooring VOC emissions. Velocityand temperature fields are measured in different points of the room.

VOC and fine particles in a newly renovated building: a case study

In a small case study involving an office room and a laboratory in a building equipped with aHVAC system VOC and particle samples were collected. Both rooms used for theexperiments were newly renovated and low, but measurable amounts of typical indoor VOCand SVOC were present in the air several weeks after finishing of the renovation work. TheVOC concentrations decreased slowly during the test period of 3 weeks.Particulate matter in the room air was characterized regarding the size distribution bySMPS.

Are we ready for indoor air pollution indices ?

Indoor air is complex with its pollutants constantly changing (in time, spatial distribution and proportions). Furthermore distinction between organic compounds and particles becomes ambiguous.So developing a valid Indoor Air Pollution Indice becomes difficult : a symptom has usually different causes, and a given pollutant brings different effects alone or in combinaison with other kinds of exposure.

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