The purpose of this paper is to document the potential impact on indoor air quality of outdoorozone during photochemical pollution episodes. A preliminary one-day experiment wasconducted during summer 2002 in a room of the CSTB experimental house MARIA. Ozone,VOC and aldehyde concentrations were monitored outdoors and indoors from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.Outdoor ozone hourly mean concentrations increased from 30 to 100 g/m3 during the day.The indoor to outdoor ratio ranged from 0.10 to 0.25, indicating possible ozone-inducedreactions occurring indoors.

Indoor radon concentrations in high-rise buildings are found to be affected by two majorfactors, namely the ventilation rate and the radon production rate of building materials. In thispaper we present a method to apportion the indoor concentrations to their individual emissionsources. The method consists of two parts: one part is to determine the overall radonproduction rate in a sealed room space, and the other part is to determine the radon productionrate from a particular component. The methods are based upon mass balance models.

The concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and carbonyl compounds were measuredat 40 residences in three cities of China (30 from Chengdu, five each from Changsha and Beijing).Indoor, outdoor and personal exposure samples were simultaneously collected at each site. The average concentrations of benzene, toluene, xylene, especially benzene, were significantly higher than those of other countries both indoor and outdoor. There is significant correlation between indoor concentration and personal exposure of VOCs and carbonyl compounds.

This paper describes the results of indoor air quality and ventilation rate during winter in 12Japanese houses that are suspected to be sick houses, judging from the occupants healthcondition. Three methods of measuring the ventilation rate, i.e. the PFT method, the constantconcentration method and the measurement of airflow at inlet/outlet, are compared. Each ofthe methods has its own characteristics and differences in the results obtained are shown. Forindoor air quality, formaldehyde and VOC concentration in the air and the spaces in the insidewall are measured.

Indoor air quality (IAQ) has been a matter of public concern in Brazil. An IAQ survey wasconducted in an office building and in a commercial bank in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Indoorand outdoor air of offices was analysed due to the possibility of causing adverse effect on thehealth of the occupants. Measurements were made in a day during working hours. Sampleswere collected for volatile organic compounds (VOCs), total volatile organic compounds(TVOCs), aldehydes, total particulate matter (TPM) and microbiological analysis.

A 3-year research project was established in 1999 to create numerical reference data formaterial emissions during the time of construction and during the first year after the buildinghas been taken into use. A total of nine measurement sites, representing the presentconstruction practice in Finland, were chosen for investigation. Material emissionmeasurements for surfaces, using the field and laboratory cell (FLEC) technique, wereperformed in the newly finished and 6- and 12-month-old buildings according to a specifiedschedule.

This research is to develop a mass-transfer model for describing the emission of volatileorganic compounds (VOCs) from architectural coatings, which accounts for both surfaceevaporation and internal diffusion during the drying period. To apply this model, it isnecessary to know the evaporation and diffusion coefficients of VOC emitted from thecoating materials. An experimental method was, therefore, developed to determine boththe evaporation and diffusion coefficients for six aliphatic hydrocarbons and six aromatichydrocarbons from oil-based paint.

Formic acid and acetic acid are indoor air pollutants that will engage in corrosion or othermaterial deterioration processes. Objects attacked by these compounds can be destroyedbeyond rescue by any conservation treatment. This is a special concern in the museumenvironment, as these acids are emitted from a range of display construction materials,including wood products. It is demonstrated that high concentrations of those acids can beobtained in confined spaces, such as cases, which often are characterized by a low airexchange rate and a high inner surface to volume ratio.

A new generally applicable model for calculating the surface emissions of VOCs (volatileorganic compounds) from the building materials and the VOC instantaneous distributions inthe materials is developed. Different from the mass transfer based models in the literature, thenew model does not neglect the mass transfer resistance through the air phase boundary layerand does not assume that the initial VOC concentration distribution C0 in building materials isuniform. And this paper provides an exact analytical solution for this model.

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare in Japan have published the guideline values for14 chemical compounds including formaldehyde, toluene, xylenes etc., in order to solve theSick house syndrome problem. In this study, field measurements on indoor air quality wereconducted in newly-built houses which had not been occupied.The concentrations of aldehydes and VOCs, the ventilation rate, the emission rate offormaldehyde from each surface material, temperature and humidity were measured in threehouses in summer and in two houses in winter.