Air Quality Management

IER

Indoor Air Pollution

Air quality usually means ambient air quality:
however: most of the time we are indoors
-> focus on improving indoor air quality

Air Quality Management

IER

Time use of the population of European cities in different

environments through workdays
Athens: All people
other outdoors

120.0

other indoors
work outdoors

100.0

work indoors
home outdoors

80.0

train
bus
car

Percent

home indoors

motorbike

60.0
40.0

walk

20.0

:3
0

:0
0

22

:3
0

21

:0
0

19

:3
0

18

:0
0

16

:3
0

15

:0
0

13

:3
0

12

30

00

30

00

30

00

10

9:

7:

6:

4:

3:

1:

0:

source KTL, Kuopio

00

0.0

Air Quality Management

IER

Time use of the population of European cities in different

environments through workdays
Helsinki: All people
120.0
other outdoors
other indoors

100.0

work outdoors
work indoors

Percent

home outdoors

80.0

home indoors
train
bus
car

60.0
40.0

motorbike
walk

20.0

Air Quality Management

22:30

21:00

19:30

18:00

16:30

15:00

13:30

12:00

10:30

9:00

7:30

6:00

4:30

3:00

source KTL, Kuopio

1:30

0:00

0.0

IER

% of time spent in different traffic modes

(On average two hours (8% of time) per
workday in traffic)

Traffic
Walk
Motorcycle
Car
Bus
Train
Public
transport
Total
transport

All cities Helsinki Athens

3,27
3,14
1,87
0,18
0,07
0,76
3,32
3,57
4,89
1,12
1,25
1,03
0,49
0,33
0,19

Basel Grenoble Milan Prague Oxford

4,78
2,57
2,60
3,21
3,17
0,15
0,00
0,31
0,05
0,08
1,94
4,57
3,72
2,41
3,30
1,19
0,46
1,12
2,19
0,34
0,45
0,02
0,82
1,34
0,39

1,61

1,58

1,22

1,64

0,48

8,38

8,37

8,74

8,50

7,62

1,94

3,54

0,73

8,58

9,21

7,27

Schweitzer et al. 2006

Air Quality Management

IER

indoor air
pollution in
developing
countries:
mainly caused
by open fires or
stoves (without
chimneys);
use of dung,
wood, crop
waste, coal

picture: WHO

Air Quality Management

IER

Open indoor fires

lead to high concentrations of

PM10: e.g. 300-3000 g/m;
plus CO, NOx, benzene, butadiene, formaldehyde, PAHs
Impacts:
acute infection of the lower resp. tract (pneumonia) in children < 5a
rel. risk ca 2.3
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (chronic bronchitis, emphysema)
rel. risk ca. 3.2 (woman > 30a)
lung cancer (coal, maybe biomass)
rel. risk ca. 1.5-1.9
asthma
rel. risk ca. 1.4
cataracts
rel. risk ca. 1.3
tuberculosis
rel. risk ca. 1.5
source: WHO

Air Quality Management

IER

DALYs attributable to indoor air pollution from

solid fuel use per 1000 persons, by country (2002)

Air Quality Management

IER

Measure to reduce indoor pollution

Improved cooking devices, i.e. stoves with and without
flues
Improved ventilation:
smoke hoods, eaves spaces, windows,
kitchen design
kitchen separate from house,
stove at waist height
alternative fuel-cooker
combinations:
kerosene, LPG, solar cookers,
electricity, plant oils, natural
gas, briquettes and pellets

Air Quality Management

IER

Measure to reduce indoor pollution in

developing countries II
- reduced energy demand: solar water
heating, retained heat cooker (haybox),
pressure cooker

Air Quality Management

IER

Indoor air contaminants and their sources

Composite-wood

Aldehydes, esp. formaldehyde

PVC

phtalates

paints

VOC

smoking

ETS; CO; formaldehyde,benzene,

PAH

Furnishings, electronic equipment,

clothes

Flame retardants

Cleaning products

VOC, e.g. glycol ethers, terpenoids)

soil

radon

Copy machines

ozone

Stoves and fireplaces (wood, coal),

candles, cooking, pan-frying

NOx (gas), PM2.5 (solid fuels)

Dust mites, pets, damp buildings

fungi, mould, allergenes

Air Quality Management

IER

Decay of Radium
(alkaline earth metal contained in soil

226
88

222

Ra

86

Rn

T = 1600 Jahre

He

Ra = Radium, Rn = Radon (noble gas)

222
86

218

Rn

84

Po

T = 3,8 Tage

He

Po = Polonium (metal)

Air Quality Management

IER

Radon concentration in air

near surface in Germany

Source: Bundesamt fr Strahlenschutz 2006

Air Quality Management

IER

In Bq/m;
recommended EU target
values:
200 Bq/mnew buildings,
400 Bq/m existing
buildings;
Ca 1900 death due to lung
cancer in Germany per year

Air Quality Management

IER

Particulate matter (PM10, PM2.5)

WHO Air Quality Guideline (AQG) for annual mean concentration
of PM10 is 20 g/m, and for PM2.5 10 g/m ; source KTL, Kuopio
Parameter

PM2.5

12 37

Mean (g/m)
GM or median
(g/m)/GSD

8 30 /

1.8 2.3

-Dust

9 27

-Salt

2 10

- LRT/ Secondary

16 36

- Traffic/ combustion

30 58

-Other
- Indoor sources total

4 (phosphate),6 (oil combust)

1-33 (no ETS),22-55 (ETS)

Air Quality Management

IER

calculation of indoor concentration:

mass balance
Cin = Pa /( a + k ) * Cout + S /(V (a + k ))
where
Cin = the concentration inside the microenvironment (g/m3)
S = the emission rate of indoor sources (g/h)
P = the penetration of the pollutant from outdoors to indoors
a = the air exchange rate (1/h)
V = volume of room (m)
k = the decay rate of the pollutant in the microenvironment (1/h)
Cout = the concentration of pollutant outdoors (g/m3)
Cin = the concentration of pollutant from indoor sources (g/m3)

Air Quality Management

Agent

Long term
(I)AQG (g/m)

IER

European IAQ summary

Typical
(g/m)

Indoor
source (%)

High end
(g/m)

Indoor
source (%)

PM2.5 (PM10/2)

10

10 40

- 30

100 300

> 90

CO (*

10

14

100 200

> 99

NO2

40

10 50

- 20

100 200

> 75

30 (**

20 80

> 90

200 800

> 99

2 15

- 40

- 50

> 75

10

13

- 30

- 1000

> 99.9

200

20 100

> 90

- 100 000

> 99.9

Formaldehyde
Benzene
Naphthalene
Radon
*)

(Bq/m3)

mg/m3

) refers to short term, 30 min, peak concentrations

For 4 out of these 7 indoor contaminants a large proportion of indoor air exposure
concentrations exceed the WHO guidelines
For PM2.5 and NO2 indoor air levels are usually lower than outdoor air levels
For Formaldehyde and Radon the role of outdoor sources is always marginal
For 4 out of these 7 the high end indoor air exposure concentrations with high individual
risks originate only from indoor sources

Air Quality Management

IER

DALY as the common metric for different

health impacts
DALY = Disability Adjusted Life Year,
A measure of the population level burden of disease (BoD), loss
of fully healthy life due to anything from epidemics of common
cold to sudden deaths from airplane accidents
The use of DALY has been promoted by WHO for the
comparison of different health risks since the 90s

Air Quality Management

IER

Environmental tobacco smoke =

ETS, or second hand smoking
In the presence of smoking, ETS dominates indoor air
pollution
Prohibiting smoking in buildings provides the
highest public health benefits for the lowest cost of
all IAQ policies

Air Quality Management

IER

Contributions of indoor air pollution sources to symptoms

and disease burden in Europe, avg. DALY per individual.
ETS not included
Ambient air quality
0,015 0,007
0,012

Water systems, dampness and

mould

0,003

0,014

Heating and combustion

equipment/appliances

0,053

Ventilation and air conditioning

systems
Furnishings, decoration materials
and electrical appliances
Building site (radon from soil)
0,278

0,078

Cleaning and other household

products
source KTL, Kuopio

Building materials

Air Quality Management

IER

Contribution of indoor air exposures to symptom and disease

burden in Europe, avg. DALY per individual. ETS not
included
0,019

0,015
0,004

Combustion products

0,039

Bio- aerosols
VOC

0,269

Pathogens

0,129
Radon

source KTL, Kuopio

CO

10

Air Quality Management

IER

Contribution of IA exposures to symptom and disease burden

in Europe, avg. DALY per individual. ETS not included
0,012 0,010
0,023
0,004

Asthma & allergy

0,024

CV-diseases
COPD
0,202

chronic
obstructive
pulmonary
disease

Lung cancer
SBS, sensory irritation
Infectious diseases
0,192
Acute toxication
source KTL, Kuopio

Air Quality Management

IER

Policies
AMBIENT ENVIRONMENT IMPLICATIONS

Apply tight building envelopes, balanced ventilation and air cleaning for all new/renovated buildings
when ambient air quality is below WHO AQG
Mandate radon safe construction for all new buildings

COMBUSTION EQUIPMENT

Ban all unflued combustion heaters, equip gas stoves with exhaust hoods and fans, mandate CO detectors
regular maintenance/inspection for all combustion devices (integrate with EPBD procedure)

VENTILATION AND AIR CONDITIONING

Mandate regular inspection and maintenance for all ventilation and air conditioning systems. (integrate to
EPBD)

WATER SYSTEMS AND MOISTURE MANAGEMENT

Develop moisture control guidelines for building design and maintenance, to prevent persistent
dampness and hidden and visible mould growth.
Keep domestic hot water [tap water] temperatures above 55 C
Provide kitchens, bath- and laundry rooms with controlled extract ventilation, bath- and laundry rooms
also with waterproofed surfaces
Avoid spaces, structures and materials which would not dry by convective airflows

ENVIRONMENTAL TOBACCO SMOKE

Ban smoking in all indoor spaces under public jurisdiction

Develop information for pressure and action to encourage smoking bans in public housing and apartment
buildings [the costs smoking induces to building renovation and maintenance]
Consider further possibilities to protect children from ETS in the home.

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