EVT578

TOPIC 6

INDOOR AIR QUALITY

MONITORING
History of Indoor Air Quality
 Greek philosophers, 500 BC, concerned with
air quality in mines

 Roman, Pliny the Elder, advised masks for

stonecutters and asbestos miners

 Early 1800s, first recommendations for

ventilation standards to control odor

 Florence Nightangle(1858) recommended air

exchange rate of 25 cfm/person to avoid re-
infection in hospitals
Questions Regarding Indoor
Air Quality
 What is Indoor Air Quality?
 What is the relationship between indoor and outdoor air
quality?
 Why should you be concerned about the quality of air that
you breath?
 What causes indoor air problems?
 What are the factors affecting indoor air quality?
 How does outdoor air enter a house?
 What are the health effects from indoor air pollutants?
 Can you give examples of indoor air contaminants?
 Do you know the origin of air quality problems?
 What are the guidelines for IAQ?
 What is an IAQ prediction model?
 What are the strategies to improve indoor air quality?
What is Indoor Air Quality ?

 Refers to good and bad effects of the contents of

air inside a structure on its occupants

 Good indoor air quality(IAQ) has no unwanted

gases or particles in it at concentrations which
will adversely affect someone

 Poor indoor air quality has gases or particles in

excessive concentration so as to affect the
satisfaction or health of occupants
 Relationship between Indoor and
Outdoor Air Quality

 Indoor pollutant concentrations may be higher

or lower than outdoor air concentrations

 Outdoor contaminants may be present indoors

at a sufficient concentration to affect the
occupants

Example : Pollen and mold spores from

outdoors causes hay fever and allergies indoors
 Why should you be concerned
about the quality of air that you
breath?
 The contaminant indoor air could damage
people’s health
 Indoor air pollutants are among the top five
environmental risk
 People spend about 90% of their time indoors
and so the health problems that result from
exposure to indoor pollution increases
 According to World Health Organization (WHO)
approximately 30% of all commercial buildings
have significant IAQ problems
Statistics on Indoor Air Pollution
 Indoor radon exposure is estimated to be the second
leading cause of lung cancer (American Lung Association )

 Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) causes an estimated

3,000 lung cancer deaths and 35,000 to 50,000 heart
disease deaths in non-smokers, as well as 150,000 to
300,000 cases of lower respiratory tract infections in
children under 18 months of age each year (ALA)

 1.4 million buildings in the United States have indoor

problems (OSHA)

 Legionnaires Disease strikes 25,000 people and kills over

4000 people every year (Center for Disease Control)
 Sources of Pollutants
 Normal Biological Processes - people and pets
generate carbon dioxide, moisture, odors and
microbes
 Combustion appliances such as wood stoves, gas
stoves, furnaces, fireplaces and gas heaters
 Use of consumer products such as spray cans, air
fresheners, spray cleaners and construction
materials
 Cigarette smoking
 Soil under and around buildings
 Appliances such as humidifiers, air conditioners
and nebulizers
Sources involved in IAQ problems
 Evaluations by National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
for studies on more than 500 Indoor Air quality health hazard cases

Percent Typical Sources

Problem Origin
Lack of outside air, poor air
distribution, uncomfortable
Inadequate Building Ventilation
53% temperature and humidity,
Systems
contaminant sources inside the
system
Contaminants Originating Inside Solvent vapors, dusts, formaldehyde,
15%
Building building materials, furnishings

Building Products 4% Concrete, wood, furnishings.

Unknown Causes 13% Unidentified sources

Outdoor Contaminants Entering Motor vehicle exhaust, pollen, fungi,
10%
Building smoke, construction
Microbiological Agents 5% Bioaerosols, Legionella
Reasons of IAQ Problems based
on NIOSH study
Bioaerosols
5%
Inside
contamination
15%
Outside
Contamination Inadequate
10% Ventilation
Building 53%
products
4%

Unknown
causes
13%
 Factors affecting IAQ
 Meteorological conditions

 Ventilation condition

 Pollutant decay

 Pollutant removal

 Pollutant release

 Permeability of structures

 Outdoor air quality

 How does Outdoor Air enter
Indoors
 Infiltration - outdoor air flows into the house
through openings, joints, and cracks in walls,
floors, and ceilings, and around windows and doors

 Natural Ventilation - air moves through opened

windows and doors

 Mechanical Ventilation - from outdoor-vented

fans that intermittently remove air from a single
room, such as bathrooms and kitchen, to air
handling systems that use fans and duct work to
continuously remove indoor air and distribute
filtered and conditioned outdoor air to strategic
points throughout the house
 Health effects due to Indoor
Air Pollutants

 Headaches
 Nausea
 Respiratory infections
 Asthma
 Hypersensitivity pneumonitis
 Humidifier fever
 Legionnaire’s disease
 Lung cancer
 What is Sick Building
Syndrome (SBS)?

 Condition of a building in which more than

20% of the occupants are suffering from
adverse health effects but with no clinically
diagnosable disease present

 It is a condition of a building; not of the

occupants

 It takes place due to long term exposure to

low levels of contaminants
 Health Symptoms and Possible
Contaminants
SYMPTOM POSSIBLE PRIMARY ENVIRONMENTAL
CONTAMINANTS SOURCES CONDITION
· Headache · Bio-aerosols · Ventilation systems · Ergonomic Conditions
· Fatigue · VOCs · Humidifiers · Noise and Vibration
· Poor Concentration · Drip pans
· Dizziness · Cooling coils in AHVs
· Tiredness · Plants
· Outside air
· Headache with nausea · CO · Incomplete Combustion · Ergonomic Conditions
· Ringing in ears · Formaldehyde (vehicle Exhaust, · Noise and Vibration
· Pounding heart stoves, fireplaces)
· Building products
· Furnishings

· Dry Throat · NO2 · Incomplete Combustion · Relative humidity

· Shortness of breath · Formaldehyde · Building Products
or Bronchial Asthma · VOCs · Furnishings
· Irritation and Infection · Particulates · Smoking
of Respiratory Tract
 Health Symptoms and Possible
Contaminants
SYMPTOM POSSIBLE PRIMARY ENVIRONMENTAL
CONTAMINANTS SOURCES CONDITION

· Nasal Problems · NO2 · Incomplete Combustion · Relative Humidity

(Stuffiness, Irritation) · Formaldehyde · Building Products · High Temperatures
· Bio-aerosols · Furnishings
· Ventilation Systems
· Humidifiers
· Drip Pans
· Cooling Coils in AHVs
· Outside Air

· Skin Problems · Formaldehyde · Ventilation Systems · Warm Air

(Dryness, Irritation, · Humidifiers · Low Relative
Rashes) · Outside Air Humidity
· Excessive Air Movement

· Eye Problems · NO2 · Incomplete Combustion · Artificial Light

(Burning, Dry Gritty · Formaldehyde · Building Products
Eye) · VOC's · Furnishings
· Particulates · Ventilation Systems
· Bio-aerosols · Humidifiers
· Cooling Coils in AHVs
· Outside Air
· Building Product Deterioration
 List of Pollutants affecting IAQ
 Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)

 Dust and dirt

 Radon

 Bio-aerosols

 Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS)

 Respirable Particulate Matter (RPM)

 Carbon and Nitrous Oxides

 Origin of Indoor Air Quality
Problems
 Inadequate ventilation

 Pollutants from material processed inside the

building

 Pollutants drawn in from outside air

 Biological contamination

 Pollutants from building materials and

furnishings

 Saving energy
 Guidelines for IAQ pollutants
POLLUTANT CONCENTRATION REMARKS
• Asbestos • 40 CFR • EPA
• 0.2-2 fibers/cucm • OSHA Standard (8hr TWA)

• Carbon • 1000 ppm • ASHRAE Standard

Dioxide • 5000 ppm • Ministry of Labor
Standard(TWAEV)
• Carbon • 9 ppm • EPA
Monoxide • 50 ppm • OSHA Standard for 1hr
• 9 ppm • ASHRAE-Average over 8 hr
• 35 ppm • NIOSH standard for 1hr
 Guidelines (contd.)

POLLUTANT CONCENTRATION REMARKS

• Formaldehyde • 0.4 ppm • ASHRAE Standard
• 0.75 ppm • OSHA (8 hr TWA)

• Nitrogen • 5 ppm • OSHA

Dioxide • 3 ppm • Ministry of Labor Standard (TWAEV)
• 0.053 ppm • Annual National Ambient Air Quality
Standard (USA)
• Ozone • 0.05 ppm • WHO
• 0.1ppm • OSHA (8hr TWA)
• 0.08 ppm • WHO-Criteria Document
• Particulates • 260 µg/cum • National Ambient Air quality
Standard-24 hr geometric mean
• 150 µg/cum • EPA, 24 hr annual geometric mean
 Guidelines (contd.)
POLLUTANT CONCENTRATION REMARKS
• Radon • 4 picoCuries/L • ASHRAE Standard
• 4 WML radon • Mine Safety and Health
progeny calendar Administration
year

• Volatile • 1-5 mg/cum • US Environmental Protection

Organic Agency Guidelines
Compounds • 3 mg/cum • Molhave, 1990
(VOC)

• Microbial • <50 CFU/cum • 2 Species

fungi • <150 CFU/cum • 3 Species
• <500 CFU/cum • Agriculture Canada Standard
 Malaysia Guidelines
Eight-hour time weight average airborne
Indoor Air Contaminants
concentration
ppm mg/m3

• Carbon dioxide C 1000

• Carbon monoxide 10

• Formaldehyde 0.1

• Respirable particulates 0.15

• Total volatile organic compounds 3

Where:
C is the ceiling limit
Malaysia Guidelines (DOSH, 2010)
What is an IAQ Prediction Model?

 It is basically a Mass Balance Equation

 The equation is
(Pollutant flowing) – (Pollutant flow out)
+ (Source emissions) – (Sink removal)
= Indoor air pollution accumulation

 Units are mass/time

 Strategies to improve Indoor Air
Quality
 Pollutant Source Control

 Increased Ventilation

 Dehumidification

 Use of Air Cleaners

 Dust collectors
Filters