Indoor air quality

Indoor air is conceptually equivalent to the ambient air, so the air in rooms within a building (eg apartment buildings ) or public building ( eg office buildings, hospitals, schools) and in motor vehicles and public transport.

With the implementation of European directives concerning the indoor air quality in national law by the legislature was the international term for room air: indoor air translated as indoor air. The term indoor air will therefore only be in communication with the indoor air quality.

Indoor Air Quality

As the man privately and professionally to a large extent in rooms or transportation is staying (about 90 % on average), the quality ( purity ) of the ambient air of more important public health importance than the much better here monitored outside air. This abuse is partially offset with the EU standard [EN 13779 ], which came into force on 1 October 2009, as this requires a certain air quality, at least for non-residential buildings.

Indoor air can be contaminated by a variety of sources with pollutants, eg

  • Generated by the body of the users ( humans and pets ) itself impurities: carbon dioxide CO2 from the breathing ( indicator substance ), odors, very volatile substances such as acetone and alcohols
  • Acrolein from tobacco smoke and by the decomposition of fats in cooking
  • Acrylates of dyes and paints
  • Amines from paints and carpeting
  • Diisocyanates of coatings and polyurethane foams
  • Formaldehyde from particle board furniture
  • Solvents, such as alkanes, mineral spirits, alkanols, ketones or esters of detergents, adhesives, paints and varnishes
  • Halocarbons from stain removers, paint strippers
  • Plant protection products (pesticides ) from carpets, wallpaper and agricultural environment
  • Wood preservatives from treated wood ( eg panels or roof bars), intermediate column and particle board in the construction of prefabricated houses
  • Terpenes from wood and cleaning products
  • Organic dusts and nanoparticles of printers and copiers
  • PAH from asphalt screed floors, fireplace and tobacco smoke
  • PCP from wood preservatives
  • PCBs from sealants, concrete forms, capacitors
  • Radon from the ground and building materials
  • Asbestos from fire protective coatings, old PVC sheets, seals, etc. Elektrospeicheröfen
  • KMF from thermal insulation and noise protection devices
  • Phthalates from floor coverings
  • Styrene from paints, insulation materials
  • Vinyl chloride from PVC products
  • Vinyl acetate from floor coverings
  • Plasticizers from PVC products
  • Mold spores and other components ( hyphal fragments ) and Others of damp walls, basements and impact sound insulation
  • Bacteria, including actinomycetes, also of damp walls, basements etc.

And many others.

Measurement concepts for indoor air quality

For the assessment of chemical contamination of indoor air are used in Germany four different valuation concepts.

Guideline values ​​for indoor air quality

While at which handled for jobs with hazardous substances, limit and guideline values ​​by the Technical Rules for Hazardous Substances ( Technical Rule ) apply, this is not true for rooms. The forth known by the Occupational Safety and Health Occupational Exposure Limit (OEL ) is not used for evaluation of room air.

For the development of reference values ​​for indoor air quality in Germany, an ad hoc working group (representatives of the Indoor Air Hygiene Commission ( IRK ) of the Federal Environment Agency and the Association of Supreme health authorities of the countries ( AOLG )) was launched in December 1993. Indoor air guideline values ​​are used to study the basis of a published 1996 base schema for individual substances, two benchmarks are defined:

Standard Value II (RW II) is a potent related value, based on current toxicological and epidemiological knowledge of effect threshold of a substance introduction of uncertainty factors. He represents the concentration of a substance is, when reached or exceeded, requires immediate action, as this concentration is suitable, especially for sensitive individuals with permanent residence in the spaces represent a health hazard. Depending on the mode of action of the substance in question, the benchmark II as a short -term exposure ( RW II K ) or long-term value (RW II L ) can be defined.

Value I (RW I) is the concentration of a substance in the air, at which no adverse health effects are to be expected as part of a single substance assessment according to the current state of knowledge and the lifetime exposure. An excess is associated with a higher than usual, outgoing, hygienically undesirable burden. For precautionary reasons, there is also a need for action II in the concentration range between RW I and RW. Of SV I is derived from RW II by introduction of an additional factor (typically 10). This factor is a convention. The RW I can serve as a remediation target value. He is not to be exploited, but below where possible.

Austria has published a slightly different assessment concept for interiors. There are only a guideline, the WE ( action -focused interior approximate value), which is derived by the Working Group on Indoor Air Environment Ministry in collaboration with the Academy of Sciences per pollutant. Specific benchmarks and procedures for the analysis are available for formaldehyde in sauna facilities.

Analysis

Since the substances in the ambient air are present usually only in very low concentrations, they must be enriched before detection only. Formerly a defined volume of air has to be pumped through a gas washing bottle containing a liquid absorber. Today, the substances are adsorbed in a collector. A distinction is made between an active and passive samplers. When the passive sampler adsorbent is placed in the room, where the substances accumulate by diffusion over a longer period. In the active collector, a defined air volume (several cubic meters ) is pumped through the adsorbent. Prior to the actual detection of the adsorbent is heated to liberate the collected materials again.

The detection of the substances are created with methods of environmental analysis, are essentially the spectroscopic methods and gas chromatography -mass spectrometry. To sum ​​determination of the hydrocarbons and the flame ionization detector ( FID) is used.

The monitoring of ambient air can also be done with gas sensors, air quality sensors. This is especially true for workplaces and living areas with ventilation systems for controlled ventilation.

For the evaluation of materials regarding possible emissions, the test chamber is used. The first test chambers have been developed for determining the formaldehyde emission from wood-based materials the mid-seventies.

Pentachlorophenol Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry Gas detector
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