NIOSH indoor air quality investigations

Conference · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1988

OSTI ID:6956921

Crandall, M S ^[1]

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1. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, OH (US)

Since 1971, the Hazard Evaluations and Technical Assistance Branch of NIOSH has conducted approximately 500 indoor air quality investigations in a variety of office building environments. These investigations were conducted in response to worker complaints and illness. This paper describes the NIOSH experience in the field of indoor air quality evaluation, the techniques which are used to conduct these types of studies, and presents information regarding major problem areas which have been found to influence the quality of the indoor environment. The problem categories are contamination from inside the building, contamination from outside the building, contamination from the building fabric, microbial contamination, and inadequate ventilation. The reports used to compile this information indicate that, although it is not uncommon for more than one type of problem to exist in a single building, inadequacies in ventilation systems, or their operation, are the major contributor to these indoor air quality problems.

• OSTI ID: 6956921
• Report Number(s): CONF-880679--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290300 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Environment
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32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
320107* -- Energy Conservation
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54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
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AIR POLLUTION
AIR POLLUTION MONITORING
AIR QUALITY
BUILDINGS
CONTAMINATION
ENVIRONMENT
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
HAZARDS
HEALTH HAZARDS
INDOOR AIR POLLUTION
OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE
OFFICE BUILDINGS
POLLUTION
TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT
VENTILATION