Indoor Air Quality

The environment where people live, work and rest, in short about 90% of the day, is either closed or semi-closed. The air of these places is polluted by the gas, dust and organic vapor emissions we generate as a result of our own activities.

Indoor air quality is defined as how indoor air can affect a person's health, comfort and ability to work. Sometimes indoor air can be so polluted that it cannot be compared with outdoor air. Exposure to temperature, humidity, poor ventilation, mold or other chemicals is common. While most of these contaminants cannot be completely eliminated, they can be minimized. A good start is to make sure the building's HVAC unit is working properly and to equip it with the correct air filter regularly.

In case of poor air quality in indoor environments, complaints such as headache, itching in the eyes, throat irritation, weakness, burning in the nose, distraction, inability to concentrate on work, and hypersensitivity or insensitivity to smells increase. Indoor environments that cause such complaints are defined as sick buildings, and the resulting problems as sick building syndrome.

Causes of indoor air pollution

Air consists of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen and 1% other gases, including carbon dioxide and various chemical compounds. Indoor pollutants can be evaluated in one of three categories:

Category 1: Pollutants produced in the environment. Carbon dioxide originating from humans in the environment, biological odors and synthetic aromas, cigarette smoke, volatile organic compounds from adhesives and other substances, solvents and cleaning agents, chemicals for process or storage, and odors that occur during cooking.

Category 2: Pollutants introduced into the environment. Carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, industrial chemicals and solvents. The most common ways these pollutants reach the environment are building openings that serve a specific purpose (windows and doors), building openings that do not serve a specific purpose (leaks on window edges), and the outdoor air used by the ventilation system.

Category 3: Organic pollutants that grow in the environment. These constitute the most common, most dangerous and least understood group. They occur in regions with high humidity and suitable temperatures; common forms are germs and mold.