INDOOR AIR QUALITY (IAQ)
In Office Buildings and In Homes

Three Major Reasons for Poor Indoor Air Quality
Health Effects
What To Do If You Suspect A Problem in your Office
What To Do If You Suspect A Problem in your Home
Internet Resources

According to research conducted by the EPA, the air inside the average home is typically 2-5 times more polluted than the air just outside its walls. One five-year study found that the levels of certain chemicals in many homes were 70 times higher than they were outdoors.

Another study examining indoor air quality in six cities discovered that peak concentrations of 20 toxic chemicals were a remarkable 200-500 times higher inside than the highest concentrations recorded outside. When the Consumer Products Safety Commission studied air pollution, it found that outdoor air contained an average of less than 10 volatile organic compounds (or VOCs-a type of airborne pollutant) while indoor air contained approximately 150. 1

THREE MAJOR REASONS
Three major reasons for poor indoor air quality in office buildings are the presence of indoor air pollution sources; poorly designed, maintained, or operated ventilation systems; and uses of the building that were unanticipated or poorly planned for when the building was designed or renovated.

POLLUTANTS As with homes, the most important factor influencing indoor air quality is the presence of pollutant sources. Commonly found office pollutants and their sources include environmental tobacco smoke; asbestos from insulating and fire-retardant building supplies; formaldehyde from pressed wood products; other organics from building materials, carpet, and other office furnishings, cleaning materials and activities, restroom air fresheners, paints, adhesives, copying machines, and photography and print shops; biological contaminants from dirty ventilation systems or water-damaged walls, ceilings, and carpets; and pesticides from pest management practices.

VENTILATION SYSTEMS Mechanical ventilation systems in large buildings are designed and operated not only to heat and cool the air, but also to draw in and circulate outdoor air. If they are poorly designed, operated, or maintained, however, ventilation systems can contribute to indoor air problems in several ways. For example, problems arise when, in an effort to save energy, ventilation systems are not used to bring in adequate amounts of outdoor air. Inadequate ventilation also occurs if the air supply and return vents within each room are blocked or placed in such a way that outdoor air does not actually reach the breathing zone of building occupants. Improperly located outdoor air intake vents can also bring in air contaminated with automobile and truck exhaust, boiler emissions, fumes from dumpsters, or air vented from restrooms. Finally, ventilation systems can be a source of indoor pollution themselves by spreading biological contaminants that have multiplied in cooling towers, humidifiers, dehumidifiers, air conditioners, or the inside surfaces of ventilation duct work.

UNEXPECTED USE OF THE BUILDING Indoor air pollutants can be circulated from portions of the building used for specialized purposes, such as restaurants, print shops, and dry-cleaning stores, into offices in the same building. Carbon monoxide and other components of automobile exhaust can be drawn from underground parking garages through stairwells and elevator shafts into office spaces. In addition, buildings originally designed for one purpose may end up being converted to use as office space. If not properly modified during building renovations, the room partitions and ventilation system can contribute to indoor air quality problems by restricting air re-circulation or by providing an inadequate supply of outdoor air. From EPA.

HEALTH EFFECTS

A number of well-identified illnesses, such as Legionnaire’s disease, asthma, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, and humidifier fever, have been directly traced to specific building problems. These are called building-related illnesses. Most of these diseases can be treated; nevertheless, some pose serious health risks and may require prolonged recovery times after leaving the building.

Sometimes, however, building occupants experience symptoms that do not fit the pattern of any particular illness and are difficult to trace to any specific source. People may complain of one or more of the following symptoms: dry or burning mucous membranes in the nose, eyes, and throat; sneezing; stuffy or runny nose; fatigue or lethargy; headache; dizziness; nausea; irritability and forgetfulness. These symptoms may or may not be related to poor indoor air quality. Poor lighting, noise, vibration, thermal discomfort, and psychological stress may also cause, or contribute to, these symptoms. There is not single manner in which these health problems appear. The complaints may be localized in a particular room or zone, or may be widespread throughout the building. When most of the complainants report relief of these symptoms soon after leaving the building, the phenomenon has been labeled sick building syndrome.

In the opinion of some World Health Organization experts, up to 30 percent of new or remodeled buildings worldwide may be the subject of excessive complaints related to indoor air quality.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU SUSPECT A PROBLEM IN YOUR OFFICE

If you or others at your office are experiencing health or comfort problems that you suspect may be caused by indoor air pollution, you can do the following:

• Talk with other workers, your supervisor, and union representatives to see if the problems are being experienced by others and urge that a record of reported health complaints be kept by management, if one has not already been established.
• Talk with your own physician and report your problems to the company physician, nurse, or health and safety officer.
• Call your state or local health department or air pollution control agency to talk over the symptoms and possible causes.
• IAQ-Building, Education and Assessment Model (I-BEAM) EPA's I-BEAM software program is the newest and most advanced IAQ guidance for building professionals. IAQ-Building Education and Assessment Model (I-BEAM) is packed with up to date information, text modules, animations and graphic displays of air and pollution flows, checklists, forms, search capabilities, web links, and budget assessment tools. It updates and expands EPA's original BAQ guidance.

Encourage building management to obtain a copy of Building Air Quality: A Guide for Building Owners and Facility Managers. Building Air Quality (BAQ) is simply written, yet provides comprehensive information for identifying, correcting, and preventing indoor air quality problems. BAQ also provides supporting information such as when and how to select outside technical assistance, how to communicate with others regarding indoor air issues, and where to find additional sources of information. The BAQ can be ordered from the Superintendent of Documents, P.O. Box 371954, Pittsburgh, PA 15250-7954. Reference number S/N 055-000-00602-4 at $28.00 per copy. You can download the order form (you will need Adobe Acrobat to read this PDF file) and fax your orders for the BAQ.

EPA has also published the Building Air Quality Action Plan (BAQ Action Plan). The BAQ Action Plan meets the needs of building owners and managers who want an easy-to-understand path for taking their building from current conditions and practices to the successful institutionalization of good IAQ management practices. It emphasizes changing how you operate and maintain your building, not increasing the amount of work or cost of maintaining your building. The BAQ Action Plan follows 8 logical steps and includes a 100-item Checklist that is designed to help verify implementation of the Action Plan. There is extensive internal referencing of this BAQ Action Plan to the original BAQ Guide, making it helpful and easy to use both documents together.

• Frequently, indoor air quality problems in large commercial buildings cannot be effectively identified or remedied without a comprehensive building investigation. These investigations may start with written questionnaires and telephone consultations in which building investigators assess the history of occupant symptoms and building operation procedures. In some cases, these inquiries may quickly uncover the problem and on-site visits are unnecessary.
• More often, however, investigators will need to come to the building to conduct personal interviews with occupants, to look for possible sources of the problems, and to inspect the design and operation of the ventilation system and other building features. Because taking measurements of pollutants at the very low levels often found in office buildings is expensive and may not yield information readily useful in identifying problem sources, investigators may not take many measurements. The process of solving indoor air quality problems that result in health and comfort complaints can be a slow one, involving several trial solutions before successful remedial actions are identified.
• If a professional company is hired to conduct a building investigation, select a company on the basis of its experience in identifying and solving indoor air quality problems in non-industrial buildings.
• Work with others to establish a smoking policy that eliminates involuntary nonsmoker exposure to environmental tobacco smoke.
• Call the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)for information on obtaining a health hazard evaluation of your office (800-35NIOSH), or contact the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), (202) 219-8151.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU SUSPECT A PROBLEM IN YOUR HOME

To reduce the impact of indoor air pollutants, circulate fresh air through your house as often as possible. When remodeling, ask for low-VOC paints and stains (among major manufacturers, Benjamin Moore Eco Spec is low in VOCs). 2 Avoid the use of spray paint altogether. Purchase furniture with whole wood frames and wool and cotton cushions whenever possible. Plants in your home or office can remove some toxic chemicals from the air and are always a good source of oxygen. From http://www.seventhgeneration.com/site/pp.asp?c=coIHKTMHF&b=83250

In homes across America, the quality of indoor air can be worse than outdoor air.

• Have you ever stopped to think about whether the air you're breathing at home is healthy?
• Do you frequently have headaches or feel nauseous or tired in your home?
• Do you feel better when you leave the house?
• If you have these symptoms, or others listed here, your home's air quality may be the problem.

Clearing The Air: Seven do's and seven don't for improving indoor air quality by John Bower from In Context magazine. http://context.org/ICLIB/IC35/Bower.htm

1. Don't use carpeting * When it comes to poor indoor air quality, carpeting is one of the worst offenders. New synthetic carpeting outgasses more than 100 different VOCs. Old carpeting is a haven for microbes, some of which are highly allergenic. A conventional portable vacuum cleaner blows a great deal of dust into the air. Shampooing is not totally effective, and it may contribute to an increase in microbes.

2. Don't use products high in formaldehyde * Of the two primary types of resins used in manufactured wood products - U-F (urea-formaldehyde) resins are perhaps 10 times more potent than P-F (phenol-formaldehyde) resins. P-F resins are used in all construction grade products (interior and exterior plywood; oriented strand board; laminated beams; fiberglass insulation; etc.). U-F resins are used in hardwood plywood for wall paneling and cabinetry, medium-density fiberboard for shelving, and particle board. No products containing U-F resins should be used within occupied spaces. P-F resins can be used in the structure, but with sensitive occupants, they should be well separated from the living space.

3. Don't asphyxiate the occupants * If a conventionally aspirated combustion appliance is used, make sure that backdrafting and spillage will not occur. Sealed combustion, solar heating, electric or heat-pump furnaces and water heaters are highly recommended alternatives. Gas ranges are probably not a good idea. Even if backdrafting and spillage are not serious enough to kill the occupants, they can result in enough low-level carbon monoxide to result in flu-like symptoms.

4.Don't create a depressurized house * Depressurization can result not only in backdrafting and spillage, but also infiltration of pesticides, mold spores, particles of insulation, radon, and other soil gases. Depressurization occurs because of the HVAC system's blower, powerful natural drafts in chimneys, clothes dryers, central vacuums, etc. Occupants should open a window slightly when using such exhaust equipment. See full article at http://context.org/ICLIB/IC35/Bower.htm.

INTERNET RESOURCES

EPA Resources On Air Quality In Homes:
Healthy Indoor Air for America's Homes Program at http://www.healthyindoorair.orgis a program of EPA's Indoor Environments Division, Montana State University Extension Service, and USDA Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service. The site includes instructional modules from a complete online training manual on IAQ. The site also includes information for homeowners on specific indoor pollutants. It was developed to provide basic but comprehensive information to consumers on how to get a handle on indoor air quality (IAQ) in their homes. The goal of the Program is to educate consumers about sources, health risks, and control measures related to common residential indoor air problems and to help consumers reduce their health risks from these problems.
Basic Information About Indoor Air Quality http://www.epa.gov/iaq/ia-intro.html. This includes What Causes Indoor Air Problems? Pollutant Sources, Amount of Ventilation, Indoor Air Pollution and Health, and others.
Identifying Indoor Air Quality Problemshttp://www.epa.gov/iaq/is-ident.html
Indoor Air Hazards Every Homeowner Should Know About http://www.healthyindoorair.org/hazards.htm#signs
Indoor Air Quality Health Effects http://www.montana.edu/wwwcxair/health_effects.htm
Sources of Indoor Air Pollutionhttp://epa.gov/iaq/is-imprv.html There are three basic strategies to improve indoor air quality, including source control, improved ventilation and air cleaners.

The American Lung AssociationHealth House program http://www.healthhouse.org/index.asp. offers information on residential indoor air quality, including an online IAQ checklist at http://www.healthhouse.org/iaq/checklist.asp that can be used to evaluate home air quality, and detailed information on specific pollutants.

Aerias.org Air Quality Scientists http://www.aerias.org/ is promoting better health through indoor air quality awareness. The website provides resources related to the connection between indoor air quality and human health, including news headlines, topical references, and indoor air quality information for homes, schools, and workplaces. Including discussions of all the places that can emit pollutants at http://www.aerias.org/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabindex=2&tabid=78

The Consumer Product Safety Commissionhttp://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/iaq.html makes available a number of online publications related to indoor air quality, addressing topics such as paint, carpet, carbon monoxide, asbestos, and formaldehyde. Documents are in HTML or PDF format, or both.

Green Sealhttp://www.greenseal.org/ is a nonprofit organization that certifies consumer products as environmentally responsible. It sets environmental standards and awards a "Green Seal of Approval" to products that cause less harm to the environment than other similar products.

An Office Building Occupant's Guide to Indoor Air Qualityhttp://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/occupgd.html This guide is intended to help people who work in office buildings learn about the roles of building managers and occupants in maintaining good indoor air quality.  And Do You Suspect Your Office Has an Indoor Air Problem? At http://www.epa.gov/iaq/is-build2.html