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Strategies to determine and control the contributions of indoor air pollution to total inhalation exposure Report No 25
Abstract and Figures
It is now well established that indoor air pollution contributes significantly to the global burden of disease of the population. Therefore, the knowledge of this contribution is essential in view of risk assessment and management. The ECA STRATEX report collates the respective information and describes the strategies to determine population exposure to indoor air pollutants. Its major goal is to emphasise the importance of the contribution of indoor air to total air exposure. Taking this contribution into account is a prerequisite for sound risk assessment of air pollution. The strategies described should be considered as a framework. This framework may have to be adapted to specific situations by policy makers, risk assessors, and risk managers.
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... The type and concentration level of indoor air pollutants are affected by the relationships of these pollutants besides the pollutant resources in the exposure environment and its near surrounding, the volume of exposure environment and all air movements effecting this environment (Darçın & Balanlı, 2015). Researchers state that, the result of these relations, which include the interactivity of different pollutants in the air and mutual effects between the pollutants and indoor surfaces, can be more inconvenient in terms of health (Kephalopoulos, Koistinen, & Kotzias, 2006). The existing level of knowledge about this phenomenon is indicated to be rather insufficient (Kephalopoulos, Koistinen, & Kotzias, 2006;Milner, et al., 2011). ...
... Researchers state that, the result of these relations, which include the interactivity of different pollutants in the air and mutual effects between the pollutants and indoor surfaces, can be more inconvenient in terms of health (Kephalopoulos, Koistinen, & Kotzias, 2006). The existing level of knowledge about this phenomenon is indicated to be rather insufficient (Kephalopoulos, Koistinen, & Kotzias, 2006;Milner, et al., 2011). ...
... The changes in the normal concentration levels of substances in clean air or accumulation of pollutants to a level that will affect the health adversely (Vural, 2004) and exist for a certain period (Kephalopoulos, Koistinen, & Kotzias, 2006) are called air pollution, which will be defined as indoor air pollution if it occurs in the indoor environment of a building. ...
Indoor air pollution is one of the major hazards that contradict the primal existing aim of buildings. The negative outcomes due to the exposure to indoor air pollution are mainly related to physical, chemical and biological properties of pollutants and their concentration level which tend to change constantly through space and time. This tendency increases the difficulties and risk of inadequate results during the determination task of indoor air pollution. Because of this, situations that affect these properties gain importance: properties of pollutant resources, the volume of the space, properties of air movements and relationship between different types of pollutants and indoor surfaces. In scientific researches, it is stated that among these factors, the results of mentioned relationship can create significant and unpredictable health risks in consequence of insufficient level of knowledge about this phenomenon. Based on the fact that, in most cases, the air pollution encountered in indoor environments is a mixture of different groups; pollutants can affect each other or be affected by the indoor surfaces according to their duration of existence. The results of these relations may change the types and concentration levels of pollutants, hence the properties of indoor air pollution. The identification of different possibilities of relations will facilitate the determination tasks of indoor air pollution, increase the quality and enhance the results. In addition to this, designers should be careful about the surface and chemical properties of building products and if possible avoid selecting reaction prone products or use them with proper solutions. Also, appropriate detail design can eliminate the negative impacts of dampness, temperature, humidity conditions that accelerate relation results and rapid removal of pollutants before the relation starts can be supplied with an intentionally designed ventilation strategy. Keywords: Indoor air pollution, air pollutants, pollutant relations
... In terms of adverse effects due to exposure, properties related to human and co-occurrence situation of human and pollutants (EPA, 1992;WHO, 1986): human's • exposure o route and contact boundary (EPA, 1992;Patrick, 1999), o duration (Kephalopoulos, Koistinen, & Kotzias, 2006;EC SCHER, 2007), o frequency (Anderson & Patrick, 1999;Zartarian, Ott, &Duan, 2007), o location ...
... It is known that certain people are more susceptible to specific pollutants; they experience more negative results than the other people by exposing less amount of pollutants for shorter periods of time (EC SCHER, 2007;WHO, 2001). In some researches, about the exposure to indoor air pollutants, generally, women (Mølhave, 1998;Kephalopoulos, Koistinen, & Kotzias, 2006), pregnant (Mølhave, 1998;EC SCHER, 2007;Mauderly, et al., 2010), babies, children and elderly adults (CEC, 1991;Faustman, et al., 2000), people with current / past health problems (CEC, 1991;EC SCHER, 2007) are more susceptible to men, non-pregnant, other age groups and healthy people, respectively. For susceptibility to occur or increase, it is stated that, ...
Indoor air pollution is an important hazardous effect that causes many deaths around the
world each year. Although there are a vast number of scientific researches focusing on indoor air pollutants; not only the pollution / effecter, but also the building user / affected should be examined in order to study the phenomenon in every aspect. Exposure can be defined as an agent to create a change on a target by reaching and touching it on a contact boundary. In the frame of exposure to indoor air pollutants, the main routes of exposure are respiration, olfaction, contact to skin and eye surfaces and the contact boundary can be considered as the inner surfaces of respiratory system and outer surfaces of the body. Exposure can be encountered with air pollutants to only touch the contact boundary, however, in most cases, it happens after the pollutants pass this border into body systems to cause symptoms of health problems. Adverse effects of exposure happen in relation to properties of human and the cooccurrence of humans and pollutants. Exposure route and contact boundary, exposure duration, frequency, location and susceptibility of users to pollutants constitute the basic factors. For accurate assessment of health effects of indoor air pollution on humans, the route of exposure should be examined through biological properties of the respiratory system, tidal
volume and biological properties of skin and eyes. The usage detail of the building, the closed units in which users spend time periodically can be determined for the duration of exposure, frequency and location. Also biological properties such as age, sex, etc. and psychological and social behaviors and habits can indicate the susceptibility. In order to execute a valid and accurate assessment of exposure to indoor air pollution, proper methods to determine these properties, to relate them towards realistic results will be beneficial. Keywords: Indoor air pollution, humans, respiration, dermal contact, susceptibility
... Processed ratings such as perceived " Air Quality " may be significantly correlated with other responses (Pan et al 2000). Recently several groups have discussed a prioritising of the most IAQ relevant compounds (WHO 2006, Cochet et al 2006, Kotzias et al 2005, Anonymous 2006). The most frequent effects related to indoor air quality (IAQ) seem to be acute physiological or sensory reactions, psychological reactions, and subacute changes in sensitivity to environmental exposures (Berglund et al 1992). ...
... Despite this some progress has been seen. Recently several groups have discussed guideline settings for the most IAQ relevant compounds (WHO 2006, Cochet et al 2006, Kotzias et al 2005, Anonymous 2006). Several procedures for prioritizing are available by which the most important pollutants can be identified. ...
... O 3 is an atmospheric trace gas formed from reactions between NO x and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the presence of sunlight [88]. Consequently, outdoor is the most common source of O 3 in indoor environments [89]. The outdoor O 3 concentration tends to vary seasonally, being maximum during the summer and early fall months. ...
Despite the risk of transmission of SARS-CoV-2, Spanish educational centers were reopened after six months of lockdown. Ventilation was mostly adopted as a preventive measure to reduce the transmission risk of the virus. However, it could also affect indoor air quality (IAQ). Therefore, here we evaluate the ventilation conditions, COVID-19 risk, and IAQ in secondary school and university classrooms in Toledo (central Spain) from November 2020 to June 2021. Ventilation was examined by monitoring outdoor and indoor CO2 levels. CO2, occupancy and hygrothermal parameters, allowed estimating the relative transmission risk of SARS-CoV-2 (Alpha and Omicron BA.1), Hr, under different scenarios, using the web app COVID Riskairborne. Additionally, the effect of ventilation on IAQ was evaluated by measuring indoor/outdoor (I/O) concentration ratios of O3, NO2, and suspended particulate matter (PM). University classrooms, particularly the mechanically ventilated one, presented better ventilation conditions than the secondary school classrooms, as well as better thermal comfort conditions. The estimated Hr for COVID-19 ranged from intermediate (with surgical masks) to high (no masks, teacher infected). IAQ was generally good in all classrooms, particularly at the university ones, with I/O below unity, implying an outdoor origin of gaseous pollutants, while the source of PM was heterogeneous. Consequently, controlled mechanical ventilation systems are essential in educational spaces, as well as wearing well-fitting FFP2–N95 masks indoors is also highly recommended to minimize the transmission risk of COVID-19 and other airborne infectious diseases.
... However, the application of precise substance monitoring and sampling assays is time consuming, expensive and not always feasible. Based on knowledge from several well-planned national and international research projects on IAQ, namely by the EC (DGXII/DG Research) and WHO, many pollutant emissions can be anticipated by the knowledge of the existence of the declared sources such as emissions from materials, consumer products and activities conducted indoors (Carrer et al., 2018;Jantunen et al., 2011;Kephalopoulos et al., 2006;Koistinen et al., 2008;Oliveira Fernandes et al., 2001WHO, 2010a). In the last 25 years, projects that assessed IAQ in buildings -especially in offices (Bartzis et al., 2013;Bluyssen et al., 1995Bluyssen et al., , 1996Mandin et al., 2017), homes (Cox, 2005;Madureira et al., 2015) and schools -implemented checklists to conduct a survey of building characteristics to assist auditing work. ...
Conducting epidemiological and risk assessment research that considers the exposome concept, as in the case of HEALS project, requires the acquisition of higher dimension data sets of an increased complexity. In this context, new methods that provide accurate and interpretable data summary on relevant environmental factors are of major importance. In this work, a questionnaire was developed to collect harmonized data on potential pollutant sources to air in the indoor environment where children spend an important part of their early life. The questionnaire was designed in a user friendly checklist format to be filled out at the maternity in ten European cities. This paper presents and discusses the rationale for the selection of the questionnaire contents and the results obtained from its application in the households of 309 HEALS-enrolled families with babies recently born in Porto, Portugal. The tool was very effective in providing data on the putative air pollution sources in homes, with special focus on the bedroom of the newborns. The data collected is part of a wider effort to build the databases and risk assessment models of the HEALS project. The results of the analysis of the collected data suggest that, for the population under study, the main concerns on early life exposures at home can be related to emissions from the use of household solid fuels, indoor tobacco, household cleaning products, fragranced consumer products (e.g. air fresheners, incense and candles), moisture-related pathologies and traffic-related outdoor pollution. Furthermore, it is anticipated that the tool can be a valuable means to empower citizens to actively participate in the control of their own exposures at home. Within this context, the application of the checklist will also allow local stakeholders to identify buildings presenting most evident IAQ problems for sampling or intervention as well as to guide them in preparing evidence-based educational/awareness campaigns to promote public health through creating healthy households.
Although green innovation and technology is not new, so far very limited information is available regarding the diversified approaches for green technologies and engineering. This book highlights the challenges and opportunities, offering a roadmap for using various approaches in the most cost effective way.
The book discusses the interrelationship between a circular economy and green technologies. It presents the dimensions of green innovations and illustrates the challenges of industrialization, especially in terms of material synthesis and utilized processes. It covers the current environmental and health challenges of societies and describes the role of stakeholders in developing sustainable societies and industries.
This book provides a line of approach to core and interdisciplinary students, academicians, research scientists, and various industry personnel to present their ideas of green innovations with a common vision of sustainable development of community and industries in mind.
Features
Discusses the interrelationship between a circular economy and green technologies
Presents the dimensions of green innovations
Illustrates the challenges of industrialization, especially in terms of material synthesis and utilized processes
Covers the current environmental and health challenges of societies
Offers the identification and role of stakeholders in the sustainable development of societies and industries
This chapter uses air pollution to illustrate how regeneration can be achieved within interior environments. It explores urban growth and reveals the impact that increasing populations and modern lifestyles have on interior spaces, people's interactions, the natural environment, and human health. Air pollution and Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) are identified as key indicators of urban vitality and quality. Performance driven design and healthy IAQ solutions are highlighted as decisive drivers towards regenerative urban environments. The open flow of personally relevant, objective data is shown to be a strong driver for public awareness and bottom-up, sustainable change. The text illustrates how to create health-giving cities that support human activities while simultaneously providing health benefits to occupants. The aim of this chapter is to provide readers with replicable design strategies and catalyze industry demand for performance driven, regenerative urban interior environments.
Improved energy performance standards are resulting in better insulated and more airtight building. In such buildings, ventilation can be provided by natural means alone or in conjunction with extract mechanical ventilation or with whole-house mechanical ventilation with or without heat recovery. This paper reports on a study funded by the NHBC Foundation of the indoor environment of eight super-insulated homes with natural and decentralized ventilation systems in the south of the UK. The aim was to examine the effectiveness of such ventilation options. The buildings were monitored for one year in relation to temperature, relative humidity, CO2, CO, NO2, CH2O and TVOC. The building occupants’ feedback and IES building modelling triangulated the site data. The study showed that natural and decentralized ventilation systems provided good air quality in the case-study buildings and allowed users to create comfortable thermally differentiate environments in response to their preferences.
Portable photocatalytic air cleaners were investigated in 24 and 48 m(3) emission test chambers with regard to efficiency and by-product generation. For this purpose, formaldehyde, decane, 1,2-dichlorobenzene, toluene, α-pinene and heptanal were doped at sub-ppm concentration levels into the chambers individually and in mixtures. By way of specified test protocols, efficiencies could be distinguished but were strongly dependant on the choice of test compounds, especially on whether single or multi compound dosing was used, and on long-term effects. Initial clean air delivery rates (CADRs) up to 137 m(3)/h were measured. Typical by-products were found in significant concentrations. The main ones were formaldehyde up to 50 ppb (62 μg/m(3)) and acetone up to 80 ppb (190 μg/m(3)). Other aldehydes were also found, but at smaller levels. The detection of chloroacetone, a strong irritating compound, at concentrations up to 15 ppb (57 μg/m(3)) strengthens the importance of such investigations especially in cases were chloro-organic compounds are involved.
IntroductionVOC Exposures IndoorsSummary of Experimental Evidence of Health Effects of VOC ExposureConclusions
References
In this work an estimation of the population's ozone exposure is performed in the European capital cities of Athens, Paris and Rome, based on the recordings of 3-4 air pollution monitoring stations in each city with comparable location characteristics (urban kerb-site, urban background, urban peripheral and rural sites). For the estimation of the total ozone exposure the broad activity patterns of the population were considered (indoor, outdoor). The maximum ozone exposure was observed at the periphery of the urban areas and the minimum at the urban centers. The rural sites, even not influenced by the city plume, exhibited also considerable ozone exposures. In general, the entire population in the examined cities was more or less exposed to fairly high concentrations of ozone, unlike most other pollutants, regardless of the place of residence or the type of activity.
The influence of temperature on the emission rate of volatile organic compounds (VOC) from four indoor materials was investigated in a small dynamic test chamber. The materials investigated were two carpets, a PVC flooring and a paint; the temperature range investigated was 23-50°C. The general trend was an increased initial emission rate and an increased decay rate with increasing temperature. The total emitted mass from paint is independent of temperature which means that bake-out is expected to be successful. The total emitted mass of the carpets and the PVC flooring increased with temperature, which suggests an influence of chemical reactions. In these cases, bake-out periods of a few days may be unsuccessful and the exposure of the population may be underestimated when using data from experiments performed at the (lower) standard temperature.
Small environmental test chambers may present wall adsorption for volatile organic compounds (VOC), which must be known for correct emission or adsorption rate determinations on indoor materials. Experiments in a 0.28 m3 stainless steel chamber, in the dynamic (air flow through the chamber) and static mode (no flow), with n-decane and n-dodecane are described. Further experiments with a 0.45 m3 glass chamber and more compounds are reported. The concentration versus time data were used as input for a new mathematical model with two sink compartments ("two-sink"model), which is described. Two model provides a much better regression of data points than the previous "sink model. The two sinks show greatly different rate constants. The model provides a reasonable description of the mass balance in adsorption-desorption experiments.
Many IAQ models are expressed as coupled systems of linear, ordinary differential equations. In this paper, the linear-systems or state-variable format for these systems will be reviewed, and some useful information will be presented which can be obtained from this formulation without explicitly solving the differential equation system. Much information concerning linear systems analysis is available in the literature of various disciplines, particularly biomathematics, wherein there is a specialization called "compartmental modeling." It is important to recognize that there exists a great deal of directly usable mathematical information which can immediately be applied to IAQ modeling problems. In compartmental modeling, an issue called "identifiability" has long been recognized as a potential problem with experiments that are intended to extract information about a linear system's parameters from observations of that system's response to a forcing function. It can happen that the system's parameters cannot be uniquely estimated from an experiment, no matter how good (noise-free) the measurements are. With a linear-systems formulation of the experimental configuration, this condition can be detected before the experiment is conducted. A related issue is termed "redundancy," which refers to the inability to obtain unique parameter estimates from the data, even if the experiment is identifiable. This problem occurs for sums-of-exponentials models, fitted via nonlinear estimation to the observations. Taken together, identifiability and redundancy can be termed "estimability." These difficulties can affect chamber testing in particular, since this is the context where we are attempting to estimate system parameters from observations. This paper will present an overview of these issues, with selected examples.