Indoor air quality
Indoor air quality is a measure of how clean or polluted the air is. Measuring indoor air quality is important because polluted air can be bad for our health.
What is in the air?
Earth’s relatively thin atmosphere primarily consists of a mixture of nitrogen (78%) and oxygen (21%) gases. The remaining 1% contains several inactive gases (i.e., argon, neon, helium, hydrogen, and xenon) and several other gases that vary in concentration (i.e., water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone, Airborne particles, or aerosol and chlorofluorocarbons).
Major air pollutants are:
- Ground-level ozone
- Carbon monoxide
- Sulfur dioxide
- Nitrogen dioxide
- Airborne particles, or aerosols
- Volatile Organic Compounds
Ozone, volatile organic compounds, and airborne particles are the air pollutants that pose the greatest risk to human health.
What causes bad air quality?
Ground-level ozone is bad for human health. It is created when sunlight reacts with certain chemical emissions (for example nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and methane). These chemicals can come from industrial facilities, car exhaust, gasoline vapors, and other sources.
Airborne particles are solid and liquid droplets suspended in the air. These particles become airborne at construction sites, smokestacks, car exhaust pipes, wildfires, volcanoes, and many other places, too. The particles can also be formed from chemical reactions.
What are aerosol particles?
Particulates – also known as atmospheric aerosol particles, atmospheric particulate matter, particulate matter (PM), or suspended particulate matter (SPM) – are microscopic particles of solid or liquid matter suspended in the air. The effects of inhaling particulate matter that has been widely studied in humans and animals include asthma, lung cancer, respiratory diseases, cardiovascular disease, premature delivery, birth defects, low birth weight, and premature death.
What are Volatile Organic Compounds?
Volatile organic compounds (VOC) are organic chemicals that have a high vapor pressure at room temperature. High vapor pressure correlates with a low boiling point, which relates to the number of the sample's molecules in the surrounding air, a trait known as volatility. Some VOCs are dangerous to human health or cause harm to the environment.
Aerosol products used in the home now emit more harmful volatile organic compound (VOC) air pollution than all the vehicles in the UK, a new study by the University of York shows. This is estimated to lead to the release of more than 1.3 million tonnes of VOC air pollution each year and could rise to 2.2 million tonnes by 2050.
In another study (Air pollution by volatile organic compounds (VOC) and health complaints by Institut für Hygiene und Umweltmedizin, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität Greifswald.).
It is stated that Contamination of the indoor air with 900 micrograms/m3 VOCs (total value) can induce serious complaints of well-being and health. Rooms with VOC concentrations> 1200-1500 micrograms/m3 are not suited for the regular stay of unprotected people.
How do high levels of indoor CO2 influence health?
High levels of carbon dioxide will appear inside your home if you have poor home ventilation and the indoor air doesn't circulate regularly. there is a growing body of research suggesting levels of CO2 that can be found in bedrooms, classrooms, and offices might have harmful effects on the body, including affecting cognitive performance. At the same time, Carbon dioxide levels reflect COVID-19 risk. Tracking carbon dioxide levels indoors is an inexpensive and powerful way to monitor the risk of people getting COVID-19, according to new research. The same is valid for VOC indoor levels that may suggest poor ventilation and a high risk of getting COVID-19.
These are basic information only and I suggest reading more about these topics as indoor air worsened in the last several decades as houses are built airtight (windows, doors, highly insulated walls, etc) and natural ventilation has been widely suppressed. On one hand, you get a more energy-efficient house but on the other hand, indoor air quality has worsened significantly. There have never been so many problems like molds, increased levels of CO2, and VOC that could lead to significant indoor air quality problems and thus possible health problems.