Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Jan 1;14(1):37.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph14010037.

Investigation of Indoor Air Quality in Houses of Macedonia

Silvia Vilčeková  1 , Ilija Zoran Apostoloski  2 , Ľudmila Mečiarová  3 , Eva Krídlová Burdová  4 , Jozef Kiseľák  5
Affiliations

Investigation of Indoor Air Quality in Houses of Macedonia

Silvia Vilčeková et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

People who live in buildings are exposed to harmful effects of indoor air pollution for many years. Therefore, our research is aimed to investigate the indoor air quality in family houses. The measurements of indoor air temperature, relative humidity, total volatile organic compounds (TVOC), particulate matters (PM) and sound pressure level were carried out in 25 houses in several cities of the Republic of Macedonia. Mean values of indoor air temperature and relative humidity ranged from 18.9 °C to 25.6 °C and from 34.1% to 68.0%, respectively. With regard to TVOC, it can be stated that excessive occurrence was recorded. Mean values ranged from 50 μg/m³ to 2610 μg/m³. Recommended value (200 μg/m³) for human exposure to TVOC was exceeded in 32% of houses. Mean concentrations of PM2.5 (particular matter with diameter less than 2.5 μm) and PM10 (diameter less than 10 μm) are determined to be from 16.80 μg/m³ to 30.70 μg/m³ and from 38.30 μg/m³ to 74.60 μg/m³ individually. Mean values of sound pressure level ranged from 29.8 dB(A) to 50.6 dB(A). Dependence between characteristics of buildings (Year of construction, Year of renovation, Smoke and Heating system) and data from measurements (Temperature, Relative humidity, TVOC, PM2.5 and PM10) were analyzed using R software. Van der Waerden test shows dependence of Smoke on TVOC and PM2.5. Permutational multivariate analysis of variance shows the effect of interaction of Renovation and Smoke.

Keywords: PM; TVOC; family house; humidity; sound pressure level; statistical analysis; temperature.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Box plot of PM2.5 concentrations.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Box plot of PM10 concentrations.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Box plot of sound pressure level.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Box plots of significant factor smoke with medians. N, no; Y, yes.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Non-metric multidimensional scaling visualizing the level of similarity for factor smoke. N, no; Y, yes.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Lee T.K., Kim J.T. Residents′ responses on indoor environment quality and energy use in apartments. Energy Build. 2015;98:34–38. doi: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2014.10.084. - DOI
    1. Nix E., Shrubsole C., Das P., Davies M. Indoor Environmental Quality of Low-Income Housing in Delhi, India: Findings from a Field Study. Energy Procedia. 2015;78:495–500. doi: 10.1016/j.egypro.2015.11.714. - DOI
    1. Al horr Y., Arif M., Katalygiotou M., Mazroei A., Kaushi A., Elsarrag E. Impact of indoor environmental quality on occupant well-being and comfort: A review of the literature. Int. J. Sust. Built Environ. 2016;5:1–11. doi: 10.1016/j.ijsbe.2016.03.006. - DOI
    1. Vardoulakis S., Dimitroulopoulou C., Thornes J., Lai K., Taylor J., Myers I., Heaviside C., Mavrogianni A., Shrubsole C., Chalabi Z. Impact of climate change on the domestic indoor environment and associated health risks in the UK. Environ. Int. 2015;85:299–313. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2015.09.010. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Arvanitis A., Kotzias D., Kephalopoulos S., Carrer P., Cavallo D., Cesaroni G., De Brouwere K., De Oliveira-Fernandes E., Forastiere F., Fossati S., et al. The Index-PM project: Health risks from exposure to indoor particulate matter. Fresenius Environ. Bull. 2010;19:2458–2471.

LinkOut - more resources