Defines "sick buildings" and describes sensory symptoms reported. Both laboratory research and field trials have been carried out, using a mobile environment chamber, gas dosing equipment, an air analysis laboratory and computer systems. Pattern analysis of indoor air samples indicate importance of interrelationship between a large number of chemical substances and several different sensory perceptions. Lists current research.
Sedentary subjects occupied an environmental chamber (20-22 deg C, 35-50% RH) with low ventilation for 90 min. Judges (visitors) evaluated the odour of the chamber before and during, and after the 90-min period of occupancy. Odour intensity increased throughout occupancy and decayed afterwards. However, therate of decay exceeded that anticipated from ventilation rate alone. The results implied that body odour is unstable with a half-life of 55 min. This instability will influence quantitative requirements for ventilation during nonsmoking occupancy.
A mobile laboratory has been constructed for the sensory analysis of air quality in the field. It is used as a human exposure chamber for prolonged exposure to low concentration pollutants, a generator chamber for air pollutants, and a pollut
Due to better insulation and improved airtightness of doors and windows, the supply of fresh air entering a room has been greatly reduced. This in turn causes an increase in the amount of pollutants emitted by different insulation and building materials. Measurements of the formaldehyde concentration in newbuildings have shown that the admissible limits are still exceeded even after a year. Stricter regulations limiting the emissions of pollutants are therefore urgently necessary.
The amount of outdoor air supply required in rooms were no one was smoking and only body odour was pesented was investigated using a climate chamer, under clean room conditions. Ten subjects were confined in the room and five panels outside of the room stated the odour level in the sampled air from theroom when compared to clean air. Experiments were performed in four steps of 5,10, 20 and 30 CMH per person. Room temperature was either 22-23 deg C or 32-33 deg C with a relative humidity of 50-60%. The higher temperature was used to study the influence of body odour in sweat.
89 male and female judges have evaluated the intensity and acceptance of body odour when they enter 2 experimental auditoria occupied by 41-216 men. More than 1000 men served as occupants during 200 experiments. Varies ventilation rate, space volume per occupant, and temperature. Finds carbon-dioxide to be a useful index of body odour intensity. Finds no significant influence of space volume per occupant on odour intensity or steady-state ventilation requirement. Establishes a relation between the percentage of dissatisfied and CO2 concentrations.
Describes a climatic chamber used to measure the concentration of formaldehyde and other volatile substances which may be emitted by furnishing and building materials. The equipment consists of 4 climatic chambers of stainless steel, with a volume of 1.00 m3. The chambers are supplied with air at a constant temperature and constant relative humidity by an air handling installation. This installation can supply air within a temperature interval of 17-27 plus or minus 0.5degrees C, and relative humidity between 30-65% plus or minus 2%.
Reports measurements of air infiltration and air leakage of an unpartitioned mobile home, made in an environmental chamber. Infiltration was measured using sulphur hexafluoride as a tracer gas. Leakage was measured by depressurizing the mobile home. Discusses results and uncertainties in the air change rates. Examines dependence of air change on indoor-outdoor temperature difference. Compares results with previously published measurements and discusses anomalies.
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