• Title/Summary/Keyword: Indoor Air quality Index

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Indoor exposure to hazardous air pollutants and volatile organic compounds in low-income houses in Lagos, Nigeria

  • Luqmon, Azeez;Musa, Olaogun;Mariam, Adeoye;Abdulazeez, Lawal;Babatunde, Agbaogun;Ibrahim, Abdulsalami;Adija, Majolagbe
    • Advances in environmental research
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    • v.1 no.4
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    • pp.277-288
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    • 2012
  • This study investigated exposure to air pollutants in rooms in low-income houses at Shomolu (R1), Mafoluku (R2) and Mushin (R3) in Lagos state. The concentrations of most measured exceeded limits of Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) for indoor air quality. Air quality index (AQI) in rooms studied was unhealthy for sensitive people in terms of CO, unhealthy in terms of $SO_2$ and very unhealthy in terms of $NO_2$ while moderate air quality was obtained in terms of $PM_{10}$ in most rooms. High concentrations of carbontetrachloride, formaldehyde and xylene measured could have been responsible for some of the health complaints of the occupants. Factor analysis shows that cooking with kerosene, use of gasoline generator and insecticide were the major contributors to indoor air pollution in these rooms. Therefore, there is need to urgently tackle poverty as all affected by these pollutants were poor who live in substandard houses without kitchens.

Impact of Air-side Economizer Control Considering Air Quality Index on Variable Air Volume System Performance

  • Cho, Sang-Hyeon;Park, Joon-Young;Jeong, Jae-Weon
    • International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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    • v.6 no.1
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    • pp.101-111
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    • 2017
  • The objective of this study is to determine the effectiveness of a modified air-side economizer in improving indoor air quality (IAQ). An air-side economizer, which uses all outdoor air for cooling, affects the building's IAQ depending on the outside air quality and can significantly affect the occupants' health, leading to respiratory and heart disease. The Air Quality Index (AQI), developed by the US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), measures air contaminants that adversely affect human beings: PM10, PM2.5, SO2, NO2, O3, and CO. In this study, AQI is applied as a control for the operation of an air-side economizer. The simulation is analyzed, comparing the results between the differential enthalpy economizer and AQI-modified economizer. The results confirm that an AQI-modified economizer has a positive effect on IAQ. Compared to the operating differential enthalpy economizer, energy increase in an operating AQI-modified economizer is 0.65% in Shanghai and 0.8% in Seoul.

Development of IAQ Index for Indoor Air Quality in City Buses (시내버스 실내공기질 IAQ 종합지수 개발)

  • Jeon, Bo-Il;Kwak, Min-Jeong;Kang, Sang-Hyeon;Kim, Jong-Cheol;Yun, Hyun-Jun;Kim, Ho-Hyun
    • Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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    • v.46 no.4
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    • pp.444-456
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    • 2020
  • Objectives: This study developed an index for the indoor air quality management of city buses to allow the provision of indoor air quality information to city bus users. Methods: Nine city buses in Seoul were measured for PM10, PM2.5, CO2, temperature, and relative humidity through IoT sensors. Big data collected through the sensors was analyzed to identify indoor air quality on city buses and graded through the index. Results: As a result of dividing the measured city bus data into five grades through the IAQ index, PM10 was rated "good" for 30.4% of the total measured values, and 9.2% were rated "risky". For PM2.5, 67.7 percent were rated "good" and 0.4 percent were rated "risky". For CO2, 0.9% were 'good' and 1.1% were 'risky'. The results of the classification through the IAQ index for city buses showed that the impact of good, normal, sensitive, bad, and dangerous were 2.7, 38.8, 46.0, 12.4, and 0.1%, respectively. According to the analysis by measurement area, Seocho-gu, Gangnam-gu, Seongdong-gu, Gwangjin-gu, and Dobong-gu are "normal" and other areas (Seodaemoon-gu, Jongno-gu, Yongsan-gu, Jung-gu, Seongbuk-gu, Dongdaemun-gu, Junggye-gu, Gangbuk-gu, and Nowon-gu) are all rated "sensitive". Conclusions: When analyzing cases where PM10 and CO2 indices are in the "bad" zone, the concentration is generally found to increase during rush hour, during which there are a large number of passengers. It is expected that indoor air quality management in vehicles will be necessary during rush hour.

A NUMERICAL INVESTIGATION OF INDOOR AIR QUALITY WITH CFD

  • Sin Vai Kuong;Sun Ho I
    • Journal of computational fluids engineering
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    • v.10 no.1
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    • pp.87-93
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    • 2005
  • Macao, a city with three sides bounded by water, is hot and humid in weather in more than six months of a year. This uncomfortable weather induces the frequency of operating air-conditioners. Choice of location for installation of air-conditioner in a building will affect the performance of cooling effect and thermal comfort on the occupants, which in turn will affect the indoor air quality (IAQ) of the building. In the paper, investigation of distribution on carbon dioxide, room air temperature and velocity, as well as air diffusion performance index (ADPI) of a single bedroom in Macao is studied by using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software FLOVENT 3.2. Simulations of locating the air-conditioner at 4 different walls will be done and comparisons and analyses of the results will be performed to decide a proper location for the air-conditioner for obtaining good thermal comfort.

A Study on the Standards of Volatile Organic Compounds in Indoor Air of Office (사무실 실내공기중 휘발성유기화합물의 기준설정에 관한 연구)

  • Kim, Yoon-Shin;Lee, Cheol-Min;Roh, Young-Man;Lee, So-Dam;Sohn, Jong-Ryeul;Kim, Seok-Won
    • Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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    • v.16 no.4
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    • pp.413-427
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    • 2006
  • It is necessary to study and develop guidelines for providing comfort and health indoor air quality for office workers since air-tight envelope system of current office building may cause poor indoor air quality. The purpose of this study is to propose guideline for volatile organic compounds in office base on the field study, human health risk assessment and cost-benefit analysis. The field study was conducted to survey the concentrations of volatile organic compounds in indoor air of 69 offices from June to September, 2005 in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do. The rate of excess to guideline of volatile organic compounds in indoor air of new apartment on the Ministry of Environment in Korea(MOE) was surveyed 37.6% for benzene, 6.8% for toluene, and 1.5% for ethylbenzene. As the result of human health risk assessment, mean cancer risk did not exceed 10-6 which is guideline of US.EPA. Also, total hazard index did not exceed 1 which is guideline of US.EPA. Through the cost-benefit analysis of angle on the social-economics to verify the necessary to establish the standards of volatile organic compounds for improvement and development of indoor air quality in office, the present value of benefit was higher than the present value of cost. With the above considerations in mind, it is suggested that the field study for indoor air quality in offices should be expanded and human health risk assessment and cost-benefit analysis be performed th offer scientific data for decision-making of policy for improvement and management of indoor air quality in office.

Development of an IAQ Index for Indoor Garden Based IoT Applications for Residents' Health Management (실내거주자 건강 관리를 위한 IoT기반 실내정원용 IAQ지수 개발)

  • Lee, Jeong-Hun;An, Sun-Min;Kwak, Min-Jung;Kim, Kwang Jin;Kim, Ho-Hyun
    • Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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    • v.44 no.5
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    • pp.421-432
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    • 2018
  • Objectives: In this study, we started to develop an indoor garden integrated IoT solution based on IAQ (indoor air quality) and interconnection with an environmental database for smart management of indoor gardens. The purpose of this study was to develop and apply an integrated solution for customized air purification from an indoor garden through big data analysis using IoT technology. Methods: An IoT-based IAQ monitoring system was established in three households within a new apartment building. Based on real-time and long-term data collected, $PM_{2.5}$, $CO_2$, temperature, and humidity changes were compared to those of indoor garden applications and the analyzed results were indexed. Results As a result of the installation, all three households had no results exceeding the standard for indoor air pollution on average $PM_{2.5}$ and $CO_2$ indices. In the case of indoor garden installation, the IAQ index increased to the "Good" section after the installation, and readings in the "Bad" section shown before the installation disappeared. The comfort index also did not dip into the "Uncomfortable" section, where it had been preinstallation, and significantly lowered the average score from "Uncomfortable for sensitive groups" to "Good". Overall, the IAQ composite index for the generation of installations decreased the "Good" interval, but "Bad" did not appear. Conclusions In this study on developing an integrated solution for IAQ based on IoT indoor gardens, big data was analyzed to determine IAQ and comfort indexes and an IAQ composite index. Through this process, it became understood that it is necessary to monitor IAQ based on IoT.

Quantitative Analysis of CO2 Reduction by Door-opening in the Subway Cabin (출입문 개폐에 의한 전동차 객실 CO2 저감효과 분석)

  • Kwon, Soon-Bark;Cho, Young-Min;Park, Duck-Shin;Park, Eun-Young
    • Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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    • v.24 no.2
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    • pp.153-161
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    • 2008
  • The guidelines for indoor air quality of public transportations such as subway, train and bus was presented by Korean Ministry of Environment last end of year 2006 based on the great consequence of indoor air quality in daily life. Two main parameters, carbon dioxide($CO_2$) and particulate matters smaller than $10\;{\mu}m(PM_{10})$, were selected as index pollutants for the management of indoor air quality. The former pollutant, $CO_2$, is regarded as index of ventilation status and the major source of $CO_2$ in the train or subway is the exhalation of passengers. It is publically perceived that the high $CO_2$ concentration in a crowded subway will be reduced and ventilated with outdoor air by door-opening taken every 2 or 3 minutes when the train stops each station. However, there has not been any scientific proof and quantitative information on the effect of door-opening on the $CO_2$ reduction by ventilation with outdoor air. In this study, $CO_2$ concentration and number of passengers were measured at each station on the 3 lines of Korail metropolitan subway. In order to evaluate the effect of $CO_2$ reduction by door opening, the theoretical approach using the $CO_2$ balance equation was performed. By comparing the predicted data with monitoring one, the optimum $CO_2$ dilution factor was determined. For the first time, it was quantified that about 35% of $CO_2$ concentration in the subway indoor was removed by the door-opening at each station.

Characteristics of Indoor Air Quality and Local Supply Index with a Variation of Supply ${\cdot}$ Exhaust Airflow rate (환기량 변화에 따른 실내공기질과 국소급기지수 특성)

  • Han, Chang-Woo;Noh, Kwang-Chul;Oh, Myung-Do
    • Proceedings of the SAREK Conference
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    • 2005.11a
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    • pp.21-26
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    • 2005
  • We performed the numerical analysis on the characteristics of indoor air quality and local supply index with a variation of supply · exhaust airflow rate. We analyzed the local supply index and carbon dioxide concentration at the room and breathing zone with respect to the variation of the supply · exhaust airflow rate. From the numerical results, we found that local supply index was affected but carbon dioxide concentration was hardly affected by the variation of the airflow rate in the room. And we also knew that carbon dioxide concentration was raised in despite of the increment of the supply airflow rate in the breathing zone. After this study it is necessary to analyze the local exhaust index when we evaluate the state of the ventilation in the room.

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Indoor Air Quality Index for School Classrooms Based on Health Effects (학교 교실 공기질 관리를 위한 건강영향 기반 실내공기질지수 개발)

  • Kim, Do Yun;Kwon, Ji You;Lee, Tae Jung;Park, Young Koo;Jo, Young Min
    • Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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    • v.30 no.6
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    • pp.380-392
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    • 2021
  • An indoor air quality index for school classrooms based on the Hazard Quotient (HQ) was developed in this study. The current index (IAQI-S) covered PM10, PM2.5, and CO2, and breakpoints of IAQI-S were calculated using each HQ value. IAQI-S was applied to the real-time data obtained from 123 classrooms of 46 schools during November 2017 to December 2020. As a result of the comprehensive assessment, 93.1% of PM10 and 94% of PM2.5 belonged to 'good' and 'moderate', respectively. The IAQI-S based on an 8-hour predicted moving average was compared with Comprehensive Air-quality Index (CAI) and with the IAQI of a foreign reference. The IAQI-S includes CO2 and consists of more stringent levels comparing to outdoor index (CAI).