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Review
. 2022 Nov;32(11):e13144.
doi: 10.1111/ina.13144.

A review of critical residential buildings parameters and activities when investigating indoor air quality and pollutants

María Teresa Baeza Romero  1 , Marzenna R Dudzinska  2 , Mehdi Amouei Torkmahalleh  3   4 , Nelson Barros  5 , Ann Marie Coggins  6 , Duygu Gazioglu Ruzgar  7   8 , Ivana Kildsgaard  9 , Motahareh Naseri  4 , Li Rong  10 , John Saffell  11 , Ana Maria Scutaru  12 , Amelia Staszowska  2
Affiliations
Review

A review of critical residential buildings parameters and activities when investigating indoor air quality and pollutants

María Teresa Baeza Romero et al. Indoor Air. 2022 Nov.

Abstract

Indoor air in residential dwellings can contain a variety of chemicals, sometimes present at concentrations or in combinations which can have a negative impact on human health. Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) surveys are often required to characterize human exposure or to investigate IAQ concerns and complaints. Such surveys should include sufficient contextual information to elucidate sources, pathways, and the magnitude of exposures. The aim of this review was to investigate and describe the parameters that affect IAQ in residential dwellings: building location, layout, and ventilation, finishing materials, occupant activities, and occupant demography. About 180 peer-reviewed articles, published from 01/2013 to 09/2021 (plus some important earlier publications), were reviewed. The importance of the building parameters largely depends on the study objectives and whether the focus is on a specific pollutant or to assess health risk. When considering classical pollutants such as particulate matter (PM) or volatile organic compounds (VOCs), the building parameters can have a significant impact on IAQ, and detailed information of these parameters needs to be reported in each study. Research gaps and suggestions for the future studies together with recommendation of where measurements should be done are also provided.

Keywords: building parameters; indoor air pollutants; indoor air quality; residential buildings.

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Conflict of interest statement

No conflict of interest declared.

References

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