Air quality in the home.

Describes work sponsored by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) to investigate indoor air quality in 10 single-family houses and 2 office buildings in Boston. The point was to compare indoor and outdoor pollutant levels, and find reasons for the differences. Found particulate levels were higher indoors, and houses with gas facilities showed higher concentrations of carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides. Concludes that a new model of population exposure to air pollutants is needed, a model that gives weight to thepreponderant time spent indoors and recognizes the different identities and concentrations of pollutants typically found there. States that research in this area is particularly important because of the growing number of air tight houses with very low air exchange rates and hence high levels of pollutants.