Indoor air contaminants

Bayer, C. W., and Black, M. S. (1988a) Indoor Air Quality Evaluations of Three Office Buildings Two of Conventional Construction Designs and One of a Special Design to Reduce Indoor Air Contaminants. Georgia Institute of Technology, Athens, GA. 

Indoor air contaminants can originate within the building or be drawn in from outdoors. If contaminant sources are not controlled, problems can arise, even if the HVAC system is properly designed and well-maintained. Sources can be from outside the building from operating equipment, from human activities, and other or miscellaneous sources. Sources outside a building include contaminated outdoor air, emissions from nearby sources, soil gas, or moisture or standing water. 

Ventilation modification is often used to correct or prevent indoor air quality problems. This approach can be effective either where buildings are underventilated or where a specific contaminant source cannot be identified. Ventilation can be used to control indoor air contaminants by ... 

Acceptable indoor air quality (lAQ) is defined as air in which there are no known contaminants at harmful concentrations as determined by cognizant authorities and with which a substantial majority (80%) of the people exposed do not express dissatisfaction (ASHRAE, 1989). Some of these indoor air contaminants are particulates, vapors, and gases that may be generated by occupants and their activities, building materials, furniture, equipment and appliances present in indoor space, operations and main-... 

As the science of indoor air quality has matured, indoor air professionals have realized that many indoor air contaminants and the associated health effects are linked to specific types of buildings and their characteristics. For example, radon is primarily an indoor air concern in homes because of the ease with which it can be transported inside residential construction from the soil beneath. On the other hand. Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) primarily afflicts office building occupants who experience acute health and comfort effects that appear to be linked to time spent in a specific building. 

Like most other indoor air contaminants, radon can be controlled by keeping it out of the house, or reducing the concentration by mixing it with fresh air after it has already entered. The following approaches have been tried or suggested9 ... 

To summarize, a mechanical system that is planned to control indoor air contaminants (including humidity, radon, combustion gases, and body odors) and reduce the risk of condensation in the building shell in a cold humid climate should include... 

Leaderer BP, Zagraniski RT, Berwick M, et al. 1986. Assessment of exposure to indoor air contaminant from combustion sources Methodology and application. Am J Epidemiol 124(2) 275-289. 

Verhoeff, A.P., Suk, J. van Wijnen, J.H. (1988) Residential indoor air contamination by screen printing plants. Int. Arch, occup. environ. Health, 60, 201-209 Verschueren, K. (1996) Handbook of Environmental Data on Organic Chemicals, 3rd Ed., New York, Van Nostrand Reinhold, pp. 943-947 Vincent, R., Poirot, R, Subra, L, Rieger, B. Cicolella, A. (1994) Occupational exposure to organic solvents during paint stripping and painting operations in the aeronautical industry. Int Arch, occup. environ. Health, 65, 377-380... 

Pyridine has been detected as a component of tobacco and marijuana smoke (Schmeltz Hoffmann, 1977 Curvall etal, 1984 Eatough et al, 1989). It has been found in tobacco smoke at 21-32 pg per cigarette (lARC, 1986). In indoor air, pyridine has been detected at concentrations as high as 16 pg/m in indoor air contaminated with cigarette smoke (Brunnemann et al, 1991 cited in Agency for Toxic Substance Disease Registry, 1992). Otson et al. (1994) reported a pyridine level of 6 pg/m in air in Canadian homes. 

Evaluation of Indoor Air Contamination by Means of Reference and Guide Values The German Approach... 

Benthe, C., Heinzow, B., Jessen, H., Mohr, S. and Rotard, W. (1992) Polychlorinated biphenyls. Indoor air contamination due to Thiokol-rubber sealants in an office building. Chemosphere, 25,1481-6. 

Benthe C, Heinzow B, lessen H, et al. 1992. Polychlorinated biphenyls indoor air contamination due to thiokol-rubber sealants in an office building. Eleventh international symposium on chlorinated dioxins... 

Heinzow, B. G. J., Mohr, S., Ostendorp, G., Kerst, M., Komer, W. (2004) Dioxin-like PCB in indoor air contaminated with different sources. Organohalogen Cpds., 66 2470-2475. 

Table 1 Major indoor air contaminants derived from environmental tobacco smoke...

Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) or multiple chemical intolerance (MCI) is a term used to describe a variety of symptoms associated, in some cases, with exposure to indoor air contaminants. Individuals with this syndrome seem to respond to very low levels of chemicals, and the condition can involve various organ systems. It appears to be induced by a wide variety of agents, but once induced it can be triggered by low-concentration exposures to numerous other chemicals. Indoor air pollutants not only appear to set off symptoms in the chemically intolerant, but several studies suggest that some pollutants or pollutant mixtures may also initiate the condition. This phenomenon has been described in... 

Higgins, C.E. and M.R. Guerin Studies on the source apportionment of indoor air contaminants due to cigarette smoke 42nd Tobacco Chemists Research Conference, Program Booklet and Abstracts, Vol. 42, Paper No. 49, 1988, p.41. 

Schreiber JS, House S, Prohonic E, et al. 1993. An investigation of indoor air contamination in residences above dry cleaners. Risk Anal 13(3) 335-344. 

A.L. Hines and T.K. Ghosh, Co-Adsorption of Indoor Air Contaminants by Adsorbents, Ch. 10 in Improving Indoor Air Quality Through Design, Operation Maintenance, M. Meckler (ed.). The Fairmont Press, 1996. 

Employee health may be adversely affected by indoor air contaminants including environmental tobacco smoke, volatile organic compounds, bioeffluents, microbial allergens, and Legionella (a bacterium). Some of these contaminants can cause discomfort eye, nose, and throat irritation humidifier fever and hypersensitivity pneumonitis. Legionella can cause Legionnaires disease and Pontiac fever. Some contaminants may be carcinogenic. 

Sources of chemical contributions to indoor air can come from ambient air through open windows and through the HVAC system. However, this is usually a minor component of indoor air contamination, becanse the amount of air entering a structure from outside is usually small relative to the amount of air in the structure. Other sources of chemicals to indoor air include household cleaners and furniture. New furniture and carpeting contains formaldehyde, a solvent that volatilizes into indoor air. Several other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are common sonrces of chemicals in indoor air, as shown in table 10.3. 

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