Briefly reviews ways of ventilating buildings. Discusses control of oxygen and carbon dioxide levels and control of odours and airborne particles. Concludes ventilation is an essential element in the design of a building and its services.
Reports an indoor/outdoor sampling program for NO, NO2 and CO in four private houses which had gas stoves. Pollutant gases were measured essentially simultaneously at three indoor locations and one outdoor location. Shows that indoor levels of NO and NO2are directly related to stove use. In some instances levels of NO2 and CO in the kitchen exceeded the air quality standards for these pollutants if data for the sampling periods were typicalof an entire year.
Reports some results of field measurements of radon levels in apartments and houses and shows that summer measurements with high natural ventilation rates are generally lower than winter measurements. Suggests exhalation of radon from building materials can be studied by placing samples of material in closed vessels and following the growth of activity in the vessels. Shows that a ventilation rate of one air change per hour will lower the theoretical maximum level to 0.008 of the unventilated maximum value.
Radon is a radioactive gas which diffuses naturally from all mineral based building materials. States for most homes, concentration of radon is approximately inversely proportional to the ventilation, although this is not valid for very low or very high air change rates. Gives brief results of measurements of concentration of radon in dwellings. Outlines health risks from radon and daughters. Reviews norms laid down in some countries for specific situations. Discusses ways of reducing radon concentrations.
Reviews hazards from excess carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide in poorly ventilated spaces. Discusses ventilation rates needed to keep concentrations below safe levels. Reviews toxicity studies of portable fuel-fired appliances and gives simple guidelines for the use of such equipment.
Reports findings of a working group on health aspects related to indoor air quality. Identifies main air pollutants generated both outdoors and indoors. Considers adverse health effects of indoor pollutants. Concludes that ventilation rate is the important factor in the health concerns discussed. Finds a lack of valid health data on the indoor climate. Recommends further studies.
Chipboard is a common building construction material which continuously emanates formaldehyde. Reports measurements of concentrations of formaldehyde in 24 rooms in 23 Danish dwellings where chipboard was used for walls, floors and ceilings. Gives results in table 1 of concentrations underdifferent combinations of temperature, humidity and ventilation rate. Finds average concentration of 0.62 mg/m3 and in some rooms concentration exceeded the German threshold limit for occupational exposure. Develops mathematical model for the room air concentration of formaldehyde.
Explains method for calculating time dependences and average values of gas and particle concentrations in ventilated rooms, which permits determination of air pollution propagation in a room by means of given target functions. Applies method forvarious ventilation rates. Provides calculated example of determination of gas concentration occurring in a room with a leaky gas container. Illustrates representative time functionfor different pollutants.
Awareness has developed in the United States in the last five years that traces of radioactive radon gas and its daughter products are present in varying amounts in the indoor air. Reviews the existing literature in the subject giving a table showing reported radon concentration. Notes wide variation in results. mentions standards developed to protect uranium mines. Recommends research to quantify radon concentration data.
Reports study of the ways in which different ventilation levels affect people part 1 of the study took place in Gavle. Air change rates, the amounts of radon and its derivatives were measured. Finds that ventilation installations are often poorly adjusted giving a wide variation between flats in the levels of air change. Amounts of radon and daughters were also higher than expected, due mainly to the poor ventilation. Concludes that lowering ventilation to present recommended level of 0.5 changesper hour cannot be recommended without further investigation.
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