A great number of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are found in the indoor air of office buildings, emitted mainly by the building materials, the consumer products used, the furnishing, office equipment, smoking, mechanical ventilation systems and outdoor air pollution. An attempt has been made to identify the strongest sources of VOCs in the indoor and outdoor air of six office buildings in Greece. Analysis of the results showed that the VOCs in the outdoor air were strongly related to the traffic in the area.

Field monitoring was conducted in office buildings in Seattle and Dallas to assess the effectiveness of various workplace smoking configurations in controlling non-smokers exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). Simultaneous measurements of vapour-phase and particle-phase tracers of ETS were conducted in adjacent smoking and non-smoking areas. Pressure relationships between smoking and non-smoking areas were determined. The Seattle portion of the study focused on the direct infiltration of ETS from smoking to non-smoking areas, as minimal recirculation of return air was occurring.

There is growing evidence that indoor surface pollution is one of the causes of sick building syndrome and that ventilation and air conditioning can exacerbate the problem. Gary Raw of the BRE explains