Regulatory aspects of indoor air quality - a UK view.

Specific indoor air quality issues that have arisen in the UK in recent years have involved asbestos, formaldehyde, pesticide residues, radon and combustion products. Different measures have been taken with regard to each of these substances. In general, an education approach has been adopted, although national standards, industry self-regulation and some regulatory measures have been used. In the UK, control of ill defined, distributed or non stationary indoor air pollutants such as body odour, tobacco smoke and water vapour, is considered to be best achieved by suitable ventilation. Research is being undertaken on methods of measurement of natural ventilation rates of buildings using automated multiple tracer gas techniques. Computer based models for predicting natural ventilation and infiltration rates are being developed.