Carbon dioxide, particulates and subjective human responses in office buildings without histories of indoor air quality problems.

States that carbon dioxide measurements are commonly used to indicate fresh air in a building, also particulate levels. The study's aim was to evaluate the relationship between carbon dioxide and particulate levels and subjective human responses in office building without previous or present indoor air problems. Six separate ventilation zones were defined and carbon dioxide and particulate measurements taken with direct-reading instruments. A self-reporting questionnaire, designed in Sweden was used for the subjective human responses. Chi-square analysis was used to explore relationships between human responses and environmental measurements. In the higher carbon dioxide group response rate were higher for all questions about environmental conditions and health symptoms although this was not statistically significant. In the particulate group the same trend was discovered, with a statistically significant relation between particulate exposure and headaches. There were also associations between gender and age and questionnaire response. Concludes that the study provides valuable baseline data useful when examining data collected in building with indoor air quality problems - the buildings analysed in this study were 'healthy' ones.