Indoor air quality in the Karns research houses: baseline measurements and impact of indoor environmental parameters on formaldehyde concentrations
Baseline indoor air quality measurements, a nine-month radon study, and an environmental parameters study examining the impact of indoor temperature (T) and relative humidity (RH) levels on formaldehyde (CH2O) concentrations have been performed in three unoccupied research homes located in Karns, Tennessee. Inter-house comparison measurements of (1) CH2O concentration, (2) CH20 emission rates from primary CH20 emission sources, (3) radon and radon daughter concentrations, and (4) air exchange rates indicate that the three homes are similar. The results of the nine-month radon study indicate indoor concentrations consistently below the EPA recommended level of 4 pCi/L. Evidence was found that crawl-space concentrations may be reduced using heat pump systems whose outdoor units circulate fresh air through the crawl-spaoe. The modeled results of the environmental parameters study indicate approximate fourfold increases in CH20 concentrations from 0.07 to 0.27 ppm for seasonal T and RH conditions of 20°C, 30% RH and 29°C, 80% RH, respectively. Evaluation of these environmental parameters study data with steady-state CH2O concentration models developed from laboratory studies of the environmental dependence of CH2O emissions from particleboard underlayment indicate good correlations between the laboratory and field studies.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-84OR21400
- OSTI ID:
- 12202927
- Report Number(s):
- ORNL/TM-9433
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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