Improvements in outdoor air quality that were achieved through the implementation of the Clean Air Act accentuate the quality of the indoor air as an important, if not dominant, factor in the determination of the total population exposure to air contaminants. A number of developments are adding important new determinants of indoor air quality. Energy conservation strategies require reductions i...

Energy-efficient buildings need mechanical ventilation. However, there are concerns that inadequate mechanical ventilation may lead to impaired indoor air quality. Using a semi-experimental field study, we investigated if exposure of occupants of two types of buildings (mechanical vs. natural ventilation) differs with regard to indoor air pollutants and climate factors. We investigated living a...

This study aims at examining the reduction of indoor air contaminants by plants placed in an indoor space. Field measurements were performed using Aglaonema brevispathum, Pachira aquatica, and Ficus benjamiana, which were verified as air-purifying plants by NASA. Three conditions for the amount of plants and positions were used in two separate rooms whose dimensions are identical. The concentra...

A paradigm change in the management of environmental health issues has been observed in recent years: instead of managing specific risks individually, a holistic vision of environmental problems would assure sustainable solutions. However, concrete actions that could help translate these recommendations into interventions are lacking. This review presents the relevance of using an integrated in...

BACKGROUND Indoor air pollution (IAP) constitutes a major global public health problem requiring increasing efforts in research and policymaking that may have special significance for elderly that are likely to spend most of their day indoors and appear to be particularly susceptible to adverse effects of chemical pollutants and bio-contaminants. Yet, evidence existing on the effects of IAP in ...

background: in the past few decades, indoor air pollution (iap) has become a primary concern to the point. it is increasingly believed to be of equal or greater importance to human health compared to ambient air. however, due to the lack of comprehensive indices for the integrated assessment of indoor air quality (iaq), we aimed to develop a novel, fuzzy-based indoor air quality index (fiaqi) t...

Indoor air pollution, specifically restricted in its meaning to chemicals in home indoor air environment, presents a new and probably an important challenge to the researchers of the air pollution field. The general overview of this topic suggests that the voluminous data generated in the past ten or so years have only defined the rudiments of the problem, and significant areas of research stil...

The volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the indoor air come from many sources including building materials, furnishings, occupant activities and in some cases, the ventilation air. Granular activated carbons (GAC) have been increasingly used to remove these contaminants, particularly for small commercial buildings and those located in urban centers or near industrial plants where the quality o...

A dual-mode demand control ventilation strategy was established targeting at use in buildings where the number of occupants varies frequently. The 4rst contaminant chosen for sensor control is CO2 and the second is a non-occupant-related indoor pollutant which indicates the demand of fresh air to dilute the non-occupant-related indoor contaminants. Experiments were conducted to verify the perfo...