Indoor Air Environment—Hygienic Factors and Limits

Abstract

Complaints on the indoor environment of the residents in recent decades have become a common problem in the Swedish housing. The buildings themselves are said to be the cause of problems, and it is given a vague picture of both the exposure and the effect of the problems. The symptoms that residents and users state are often common in the population such as headache, fatigue, mucosal disorders and skin problems. It must be considered that the air that people routinely inhale contains impurities of various kinds, both in- and outdoors. An important source of contamination indoors is the microorganisms that are pathogenic, so called agents. Examples of infectious agents are viruses, fungi, bacteria and protozoa. The purpose of this project is to examine whether a physical measurement is possible to obtain for identifying a possible threshold level of air pollution in the indoor environment. In this study, carried out through physical measurements, the results show major deficiencies in the Swedish school environment. If we study the emissions in the important health-related size range of particles larger than 5.0 microns, before and after measures, the environmental benefits are clarified since over 90% of contaminants larger than 5.0 microns have been eliminated.