Airborne particulate matter within 100 randomly selected office buildings in the United States (base).

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has collected extensive indoor air quality data in 100 randomly selected office buildings following a standardized protocol developed for the Building Assessment Survey and Evaluation (BASE) study. These data were collected to provide normative data in typical office buildings for various uses including: a) basis for making policy and guidance development; b) hypothesis development and testing; c) input into risk assessments and environmental models; and, d) comparison of complaint buildings to "typical" building stock. Airborne particulate matter (PM) of respirable (less than or equal to 2.5 microns (μm)) and inhalable (less than or equal to 10μm) size were collected by inertial impaction at a specified flowrate onto pre-weighed filters over an eight-hour period at up to three randomly selected locations within the study area and near the outdoor air intake of the ventilation system. This paper presents the concentration distributions and comparisons of PM2.5 and PM10 in the BASE buildings and outdoor air near the building.