scholarly journals A Promising Technological Approach to Improve Indoor Air Quality

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (22) ◽  
pp. 4837 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Maggos ◽  
Vassiliοs Binas ◽  
Vasileios Siaperas ◽  
Antypas Terzopoulos ◽  
Panagiotis Panagopoulos ◽  
...  

Indoor Air quality (IAQ) in private or public environments is progressively recognized as a critical issue for human health. For that purpose the poor IAQ needs to be mitigated and immediate drastic measures must be taken. In environmental science and especially in advanced oxidation processes and technologies (AOPs-AOTs), photocatalysis has gained considerable interest among scientists as a tool for IAQ improvement. In the current study an innovative paint material was developed which exhibits intense photocatalytic activity under direct and diffused visible light for the degradation of air pollutants, suitable for indoor use. A laboratory and a real scale study were performed using the above innovative photo-paint. The lab test was performed in a special design photo-reactor while the real scale in a military’s medical building. Nitrogen Oxide (NO) and Toluene concentration was monitored between “reference” rooms (without photo paint) and “green” rooms (with photo-paint) in order to estimate the photocatalytic efficiency of the photo-paint to degrade the above pollutants. Results of the study showed a decrease up to 60% and 16% for NO and toluene respectively under lab scale tests while an improvement of air quality up to 19% and 5% under real world conditions was achieved.

Indoor Air ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 1168-1176 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Langer ◽  
O. Ramalho ◽  
E. Le Ponner ◽  
M. Derbez ◽  
S. Kirchner ◽  
...  

1990 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 103-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. J. Van De Wiel ◽  
E. Lebret ◽  
W. K. Van Der Lingen ◽  
H. C. Eerens ◽  
L.H. Vaas ◽  
...  

Several national and international health organizations have derived concentration levels below which adverse effects on men are not expected or levels below which the excess risk for individuals is less than a specified value. For every priority pollutant indoor concentrations below this limit are considered “healthy.” The percentage of Dutch homes exceeding such a limit is taken as a measure of indoor air quality for that component. The present and future indoor air quality of the Dutch housing stock is described for fourteen air pollutants. The highest percentages are scored by radon, environmental tobacco smoke, nitrogen dioxide from unvented combustion, and the potential presence of housedust mite and mould allergen in damp houses. Although the trend for all priority pollutants is downward the most serious ones remain high in the coming decades if no additional measures will be instituted.


2011 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qi Zheng ◽  
Donghoon Lee ◽  
Sungho Lee ◽  
Jeong Tai Kim ◽  
Sunkuk Kim

As illnesses attributable to deteriorating indoor air quality (IAQ) increase, people are becoming more aware of the health effects of IAQ because most people in Korea spend >80% of their time indoors. Notably, the IAQ of apartment buildings accounts for a massive share of the construction volume in Korea, which is a highly critical issue. Evaluation of health effects of IAQ would influence not only the statutory criteria for air quality improvement but could also contribute to the development of building design standards. In addition, such evaluation supports quantification efforts for the selection of wholesome construction materials and techniques. Evaluation of the health effects of IAQ is a complex exercise that would require comprehensive consideration of factors such as the concentrations and occurrences of various known, harmful indoor pollutants, ventilation performance in a building and temperature/humidity. Evaluation involves not only quantitative assessment of pollutants but also evaluation of IAQ based on human perception. The aim of this study was to develop a model to evaluate IAQ in quantitative terms based on health impact, but with an emphasis on apartment buildings.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-48

Two recent reports have warned about the importance of good air quality and issued advice on improving it in the home and school environments. This is a key consideration for children and young people with asthma, for whom air pollutants may worsen symptoms and trigger asthma attacks.


Symmetry ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 952
Author(s):  
He Zhang ◽  
Ravi Srinivasan ◽  
Xu Yang

Exposures to air pollutants have been associated with various acute respiratory diseases and detrimental human health. Analysis and further interpretation of air pollutant patterns are correspondingly important as monitoring them. In the present study, the 24-h and four-month indoor and outdoor PM2.5, PM10, NO2, relative humidity, and temperature were measured simultaneously for a laboratory in Gainesville city, Florida. The indoor PM2.5, PM10, and NO2 concentrations were predicted using multiple linear regression (MLR), time series regression (TSR), and artificial neural networks (ANN) models. The modeling conducted in this study aims to perform a cross comparison study between these models in a symmetric environment. The value of root-mean-square error was improved by 18.33% in comparison with the MLR model. In addition, the value of the coefficient of determination was improved by 24.68%. The ANN model had the best performance and could predict the target air pollutants at 10-min intervals of the studied building with 90% accuracy levels. The TSR model showed slightly better performance compared to the MLR model. These results can be accordingly referred for studies analyzing indoor air quality in similar building types and climate zones.


2018 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
pp. 01022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Mainka ◽  
Elwira Zajusz-Zubek ◽  
Barbara Kozielska ◽  
Ewa Brągoszewska

Children’s exposure to air pollutants is an important public health challenge. Indoor air quality (IAQ) in nursery school is believed to be different from elementary school. Moreover, younger children are more vulnerable to air pollution than higher grade children because they spend more time indoors, and their immune systems and bodies are less mature. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the indoor air quality (IAQ) at naturally ventilated rural nursery schools located in Upper Silesia, Poland. We investigated the concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), particulate matter (PM), bacterial and fungal bioaerosols, as well as carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations in younger and older children's classrooms during the winter and spring seasons. The concentration of the investigated pollutants in indoor environments was higher than those in outdoor air. The results indicate the problem of elevated concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 inside the examined classrooms, as well as that of high levels of CO2 exceeding 1,000 ppm in relation to outdoor air. The characteristics of PM and CO2 levels were significantly different, both in terms of classroom occupation (younger or older children) and of season (winter or spring).


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 8302
Author(s):  
Jenjira Kaewrat ◽  
Rungruang Janta ◽  
Surasak Sichum ◽  
Thongchai Kanabkaew

Indoor air quality is associated with academic performance and harmful health effects on students and teachers who participate in the classroom. Outdoor sources always contribute to classroom air quality. This study aims to estimate the amounts of indoor and outdoor pollutants and the influence of outdoor sources on open-air classrooms in a school located in the city. A health risk assessment was applied to assess the non-carcinogenic risk to students and teachers from exposure to the pollutants in the classroom. The concentrations of indoor NO2 ranged between 46.40 and 77.83 µg/m3, which is about 0.8 times that of outdoor NO2. A strong correlation and a high indoor/outdoor (I/O) ratio (>0.5) without a source, indicated that indoor NO2 is significantly influenced by outdoor sources. The range of indoor PM2.5 concentrations was 1.66 to 31.52 µg/m3 which was influenced by meteorological conditions. The indoor PM2.5 concentrations were affected by both indoor and outdoor sources. Although the level of indoor air pollutants met the official standard, the young children were exposed to indoor air pollutants which were above the recommended limits to human health with regard to the hazard index (HI) of 1.12. Instant measures such as regularly cleaning the classrooms, zoning the students, and installation of solid and vegetation barriers are recommended to reduce the daily dose of pollutants affecting students in open-air classrooms.


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