Organic Indoor Air Pollutants

With the quality of indoor air ranking highly in our lives, this second, completely, revised edition now includes 12 completely new chapters addressing both chemical and analytical aspects of organic pollutants. Sources of indoor air pollutants, measurement and detection as well as evaluation are covered filling the gap in the literature caused by this topical subject. This book is divided into four clearly defined parts: measuring organic indoor pollutants, investigation concepts and quality guidelines, field studies, and emission studies. The authors cover physico-chemical fundamentals of organic pollutants, relevant definitions and terminology, emission sources, sampling techniques and instrumentation, exposure assessment as well as methods for control. Test methods and studies for various indoor environments are described, such as automobile interiors, museum environments, or rooms with air ventilation. Emission sources covered include household and consumer products as well as electronic devices and office equipment. The book is aimed at chemists, physicists, biologists, and medical doctors at universities and research facilities, in industry and environmental laboratories as well as regulative bodies.

Discusses pollution from tobacco smoke, radon and radon progeny, asbestos and other fibers, formaldehyde, indoor combustion, aeropathogens and allergens, consumer products, moisture, microwave radiation, ultraviolet radiation, odors, radioactivity, and dirt and discusses means of controlling or eliminating them.

Indoor air quality has gained more and more attention in recent years. The book covers organic pollutants in indoor air, their sources, measurement, and evaluation. It is written from a chemical-analytical point of view. Therefore it fills a gap in the literature on this very topical subject. The book is divided into four parts covering the measurement of organic pollutants, environmental test chambers, the release of organic compounds from indoor materials as well as investigation concepts and quality guidelines. Each section was written by an experienced expert. The authors work in Europe, the USA, and Australia. The book is adressed to chemists, physicists, biologists, and medical doctors at universities and research facilities, in industry and environmental laboratories as well as regulative bodies.

This book presents WHO guidelines for the protection of public health from risks due to a number of chemicals commonly present in indoor air. The substances considered in this review, i.e. benzene, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, naphthalene, nitrogen dioxide, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (especially benzo[a]pyrene), radon, trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene, have indoor sources, are known in respect of their hazardousness to health and are often found indoors in concentrations of health concern. The guidelines are targeted at public health professionals involved in preventing health risks of environmental exposures, as well as specialists and authorities involved in the design and use of buildings, indoor materials and products. They provide a scientific basis for legally enforceable standards.

This second edition offers a comprehensive overview of the priority indoor air pollutants, such as volatile organic compounds, indoor particles and fibres, combustion products and other chemical agents that may affect health. It includes updated reviews with a focus on emission processes and on the large variety of volatile organic pollutants. It also introduces new topics, such as reflections on the shift in human health from infection-related diseases to chronic illnesses and the significance of indoor chemical exposure. The authors provide insights into different cultural settings and their consequences for indoor air quality. Further, the book briefly discusses building certification as a market-oriented tool to improve energy efficiency and indoor air quality in the building sector. It appeals to public health specialists; scientists; graduate students in the field of environmental sciences; decision makers in government, regulatory bodies and the construction industry; and facility managers.

Interest in indoor air quality (IAQ) is growing at public, political and scientific levels. Complaints about poor IAQ, associated with acute symptoms such as mucous irritation, headaches and bad odor occur frequently, particularly in the office environment, where typical patterns of symptoms often occur, leading to the coining of the term `Sick Building Syndrome'. In the present book, internationally known experts address the following issues: the dynamics of the indoor environment and strategies for indoor measurement chemical and microbiological pollution, important species, sources and detection methods effects of indoor pollution, in particular sensory irritation, including odor airway, eye and skin irritation by organic indoor pollutants and their assessment immune effects, including allergic sensitization chemical hyper-responsiveness controlled human reactions to organic pollutants building investigation: approaches and results source characterization and control criteria, norms and techniques in indoor air pollution, and regulatory aspects. The complex, multifactorial nature of sick building syndrome requires multidisciplinary collaboration from very diverse fields. It is evident that communication between researchers coming from very different areas, all speaking their own language, is a difficult task. This book, presenting as it does the state of the art on sick buildings and how to cure them, is a sound foundation on which to build for the future.

Indoor Air Pollution: Radon, Bioaerosols, and VOCs covers the most current aspects of indoor pollution research, including vitally important topics such as radon, bioaerosols, and volatile organic compounds. The book presents information on microbial contamination abatement, chemical characterization of air samples, sick building syndrome, biological pollutants, liability of indoor air pollution, and measurement and control of radon. Industrial hygienists, toxicologists, safety officers, and engineers in industry and academia should consider this book a "must read" selection.