health

Indoor radon concentrations are approximately lognormally distributed, with the range of concentrations varying from a one in one thousand risk of contracting lung cancer to high one per cent risk. Source strength rather than ventilation rate seems to be the major factor causing the broad distribution in concentrations. There is general agreement that the most important mechanism for radon entry into homes is not diffusion but pressure driven flow of soil gas that carries radon from the soil into the homes.

Air pollution is not just a phenomenon associated with urbanization and industrialization. It is possible that the principal exposures to several important pollutants occur in rural areas of developing countries where the population relies on biomass fuels for their energy needs. These fuels have large emission factors for particulates, CO and a range of hydrocarbons. Rural studies have found very high BaP concentrations. Effects on health have not been researched, but can be assumed to be similar to urban occupational air pollution effects.

Contains further papers, reports and conference summaries from the 3rd International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate, 1984, as well as afull list of authors and titles of papers printed in this and the previous volumes.

Indoor air quality is regarded as the single most important health issue facing us in the 1980's. The total number of serious health effects related to IAQ in non- industrial buildings have been miniscule compared to the total building stock.

In a previous paper it was found that the number of persons occupying aroom, or the air space per occupant, is a very important factor affecting theper capita outdoor air supply for the control of body odors. In a room with a net air spac

The work to be described here is an elaboration of Lehmberg's preliminary experiments. The object was to study the general problem of ventilation odours under normal conditions, comparable to those in schoolrooms, offices, homes and the like with the possibility of establishing ventilation requirements for various groups of individuals, including grade school children and adults, under representative winter and summer conditions. Three methods of odor control were studied dealing with personal sanitation, ventilation, and air washing.

One important factor in the spread of airborne infection must be the movement of the air itself i.e. the ventilation, although an exact correlation of it with the risk of infection has yet to be found. As part of an infection survey in a hospital ward we made a detailed study by physical methods of the movements of the air and of the transport of particles by this means. A description is given of the methods employed.

In this paper it is our intention to consider that ventilation is the circulation or passage of an air supply through an enclosure resulting in the displacement of some or all of the air contained in that enclosure by thesupply air. Depending on the character and condition of the supply air it can dilute or change the quality of the air in an enclosure as well as alter its temperature and humidity. A mathematical analysis of the ventilation process appears later in this paper.

The influence of indoor nitrogen dioxide exposure on respiratory symptoms of school children was investigated in a case-control study. The election method used was useful in obtaining symptomatic children, but insufficient indefining cases and controls without additional information. No relationship between indoor NO2 and respiratory symptoms was found. Bias may have been present, especially because of the high mobility of the study population. Attempts to estimate historical exposure were inaccurate.

A cross sectional survey investigating building sickness was carried out in two buildings with similar populations of office workers but differing ventilation systems, one being fully air conditioned with humidification and the other naturally ventilated.