Remote Work and the Environment: Exploratory Analysis of Indoor Air Quality of Commercial Offices and the Home Office

Abstract Background Children spend considerable time in daycare centers in parts of the world and are exposed to the indoor micro- and mycobiomes of these facilities. The level of exposure to microorganisms varies within and between buildings, depending on occupancy, climate, and season. In order to evaluate indoor air quality, and the effect of usage and seasonality, we investigated the spatiotemporal variation in the indoor mycobiomes of two daycare centers. We collected dust samples from different rooms throughout a year and analyzed their mycobiomes using DNA metabarcoding. Results The fungal community composition in rooms with limited occupancy (auxiliary rooms) was similar to the outdoor samples, and clearly different from the rooms with higher occupancy (main rooms). The main rooms had higher abundance of Ascomycota, while the auxiliary rooms contained comparably more Basidiomycota. We observed a strong seasonal pattern in the mycobiome composition, mainly structured by the outdoor climate. Most markedly, basidiomycetes of the orders Agaricales and Polyporales, mainly reflecting typical outdoor fungi, were more abundant during summer and fall. In contrast, ascomycetes of the orders Saccharomycetales and Capnodiales were dominant during winter and spring. Conclusions Our findings provide clear evidences that the indoor mycobiomes in daycare centers are structured by occupancy as well as outdoor seasonality. We conclude that the temporal variability should be accounted for in indoor mycobiome studies and in the evaluation of indoor air quality of buildings.

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Remote Work and the Environment: Exploratory Analysis of Indoor Air Quality of Commercial Offices and the Home Office

10.21203/rs.3.rs-146008/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Kamrie Sarnosky ◽

Mark Benden ◽

Leslie Cizmas ◽

Annette Regan ◽

Garett Sansom

Keyword(s):

Air Quality ◽

Indoor Air Quality ◽

Indoor Air ◽

Indoor Air Pollution ◽

Home Office ◽

Adverse Health Effects ◽

Home Based ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Carbon Dioxide Co2 ◽

Total Volatile Organic Compounds

Abstract Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated an already existing trend of individuals increasingly working remotely. With the growing popularity of remote working, specifically in a home office, there is a critical need to better understand and characterize the potential environmental differences between these two spaces. Indoor air pollution can have adverse health effects and impair cognitive functioning. Methods: This small pilot cohort study (N=22) recruited home and office workers to better understand the indoor air quality between these spaces. Air contaminants collected and assessed included PM10 and PM2.5, carbon dioxide (CO2), and total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs). Results: Findings showed a strong statistically significant increase in all measured variables within homes in comparison to traditional offices (p<0.001). For instance, The mean PM2.5 level in the traditional office space was 1.93 µg/m3 whereas it was more than twice this amount (5.97 µg/m3) in home offices.Conclusion: These results indicate that those who work from home are at increased risk due to longer exposures to higher levels of certain contaminants, the importance to better develop interventions to mitigate this reality is underscored by the fact that many workers will be moving to home-based offices in the coming years.

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The Factors of Affect Indoor Air Quality Inpatient at Private Hospital, Pekanbaru, Indonesia

Open Access Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences ◽

10.3889/oamjms.2019.605 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 7 (13) ◽

pp. 2208-2212

Author(s):

Endang Purnawati Rahayu ◽

Zulfan Saam ◽

Sukendi Sukendi ◽

Dedi Afandi

Keyword(s):

Air Quality ◽

Indoor Air Quality ◽

Indoor Air ◽

Private Hospital ◽

Health Workers ◽

P Value ◽

Chi Square ◽

Inpatient Hospitalisation ◽

Food And Drink

BACKGROUND: Air quality in inpatient rooms influenced by several factors. Room not qualified health can cause disease and can spread through equipment, the material used, food and drink, health workers, patients and visitors. AIM: The purpose of this study is to know the factors that affect air quality in the inpatient room at a private hospital, Pekanbaru. METHODS: The research is quantitative analytic by design cut latitude study. Samples from 120 nurses were selected overall sampling. The data do with the measurement directly, interviews and observation using a questionnaire. Data analysed by using the chi-square with significance p-value less than 0.05. RESULTS: The quality of the air in inpatient rooms has met the standard. Variables are affecting air quality in inpatient rooms in the hospital significantly with p-value more than 0.05 is temperature, dust, the germ, density occupancy, sanitation room. While the moisture, standard operating procedures and behaviour is not significant. CONCLUSION: The factors that significantly affect indoor air quality inpatient hospitalisation are temperature, dust, germ numbers, occupancy density, room sanitation.

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