Compares the levels of possible cigarette smoke-related aerosols with the prevalence of health-related complaints in offices with different regulations about smoking, using data from two sources. The first was a review of 111 buildings with persistent building-related complaints and 32 buildings where there were no complaints. The second was a questionnaire completed by approximately 1100 employees from 9 buildings in New York City. The available data do not support a conclusion that increased reports of building-related complaints are associated with smoking.
The bacterial content of the air and physical environment of two crated veal calf units were monitored over the growing period of 16 weeks. The rate of release of bacteria colony forming particles (BCFP) from the calves was rapid.
1100 branch members of the New York branch of the Office and Professional Employees International Union working in nine office buildings filled out a detailed questionnaire on working conditions and health comfort complaints.
A review of 116 investigated incidents of building illness among office workers in North America and 27 buildings selected for investigations for reasons other than building illness has recently been completed.
For controlling and for setting ventilation standards to maintain acceptable indoor air quality, it would appear to be of greatest importance to determine the strength of relationships between contaminant concentrations on one hand and different rates of ventilation and how these rates are expressed on the other.
Measures of a number of ventilation parameters and of a number of pollutants from 21 locations furnished data for evaluating interrelations among commonly used descriptors of ventilation as well as their relation to frequently measured indoor gaseous and particulate pollutants.
A subcommittee of the Nordic Committee for Building Codes has released guidelines for building regulations regarding indoor air quality, especially concerning ventilation. The main features of the guidelines, such as acceptable outdoor air quality for ventilation and minimum outdoor air flows for dwellings and offices, are presented and discussed. Mechanical ventilation is, in principle, required in all buildings including dwellings, due to therequirement of a minimum outdoor air change of 0.5 h-1 and the normal highly airtight nature of new buildings.
Discusses the nature of the problem of indoor air pollution, limitations in the authority of established health agencies in the US to control the problem, research needs and some control options. Indoor pollutants of current concern include radon, tobacco smoke, emissions from unvented indoor combustion appliances, aeropathogens, formaldehyde and pesticides.
Efforts to reduce the energy needs to heat or cool dwellings have the potential to create new health hazards. Increases in indoor levels of radon and its progeny from the reduction in air exchange rates add a substantial radioactive burden to the general population. Other indoor pollutants reaching critical concentrations in homes with low air exchange rates are CO and NO2 from unvented combustion in gas stoves and heaters, tobacco smoke, and asbestos fibres.
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