Biological Pollution of Indoor Air, Its Assessment and Control Methods

Biological Pollution of Indoor Air, Its Assessment and Control Methods: History

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Contributor:

Natalia Stocka

The aim of the entry was to write a substantial contribution that analyses and compares the biological pollution of indoor air, the possibilities of its assessment and the control methods. In addition, the aim of our entry was to review journals covering both commercial and residential buildings. By analysing the above topics from the existing articles, one can have the impression that air pollution is one of the most important problems that need to be solved in the modern world. Adequate air quality is important for maintaining human health, affects the health of ecosystems, including animals, and determines crop production. With the development of civilisation, the quality of air in the atmosphere and indoors is constantly deteriorating. Indoor air pollution can be divided into physical (e.g., noise, inadequate lighting, ionising radiation), chemical (e.g., tobacco smoke, household products) and microbiological (bacteria, viruses, fungi and products of their metabolism) factors. Each of these factors can have a negative impact on a person’s health or cause premature death. The entry deals with indoor air pollution, focussing on biological pollutants. It compares different methods available and describes the method of sampling to analyse indoor air pollution and ways to reduce it.

indoor air
biological contaminants
SPME
GC-MS

Today, air pollution is considered one of the greatest environmental threats to human health, and clean air is a basic requirement for staying healthy. Data collected by the World Health Organisation (WHO) show that polluted air was responsible for 6.7 million deaths in 2019 and affected 3 billion people worldwide ^[1]. The change in people’s lifestyles has meant that they are no longer outdoors, but indoors, where they spend most of their time ^[2]. Nowadays, each of us spends an average of 87% of our time indoors; in industrialised countries, it is even 90%, of which 60% is at home and 30% is at work ^[3]^[4]^[5]. In enclosed spaces and buildings, occupant actions, poor building design or inadequate maintenance often lead to a condition known as ‘Sick Building Syndrome’ (SBS) ^[2]. This syndrome often occurs in people who spend a lot of time indoors and manifests itself in headaches and dizziness, fatigue, irritability, sleep and concentration disorders, mucous membrane irritation, allergies and skin lesions ^[6]. In its report, the European Federation of Allergy and Airways Diseases Patients’ Associations (EFA) confirms reports that Europeans suffer from allergies caused by a systematic deterioration in indoor air quality (EFA 2022). Indoor air is a mixture of components that surrounds people in enclosed spaces. The components that make up indoor air pollutants include chemical, physical and microbiological pollutants. Each of these groups has a specific effect on indoor air quality and can be a cause of health complaints for room ^[7].

Heating, cooling and ventilating homes is a major problem for people living in buildings. Both homeowners and tenants can experience indoor environmental quality (IEQ) problems, such as poor thermal comfort and humidity, if heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are not installed or are too small. As they are expensive to run, residents of poorer households are the most affected ^[8]. There is no need to convince anyone how important the microbiological quality of air in operating rooms is. It is determined by the level of microbiological contamination of air and critical surfaces by passive air sampling and infection control ^[9]. In this case, a passive method of collecting air samples with Petri dishes on agar is used. To meet microbiological standards, air samples in operating theatres should be within 10 CFU/m³, and the average number of bacterial colonies should be zero to two in quiet phases and one to four in active phases. Approximately 60% of isolates from operating theatres belong mainly to the genus Staphylococcus (S. epidermidis, S. hominis and S. haemolyticus), Streptococcus anginosus and Bacillus sp. Light dehumidifiers are also used, using germicidal ultraviolet radiation (UVGI) in combination with various types of filters (carbon fiber or polyester) ^[10].

This entry reviews the status of chemical, physical and microbiological indoor air pollution. It describes the known methods for testing indoor air quality, including molecular biological methods, and it analyses the advantages and disadvantages of the methods for treating indoor air (physical, chemical, and biological). It also describes the development of analytical techniques for the determination of volatile substances.

This entry is adapted from the peer-reviewed paper 10.3390/encyclopedia4030079

References

World Health Organization. WHO Global Air Quality Guidelines: Particulate Matter (PM2.5 and PM10), Ozone, Nitrogen Dioxide, Sulfur Dioxide and Carbon Monoxide; World Health Organization: Geneva, Switzerland, 2021.
Khan, A.H.; Karuppayil, S.M. Fungal pollution of indoor environments and its management. Saudi J. Biol. Sci. 2012, 19, 405–426.
Guo, H.; Lee, S.; Chan, L. Indoor air quality investigation at air-conditioned and non-air-conditioned markets in Hong Kong. Sci. Total Environ. 2004, 323, 87–98.
Mannan, M.; Al-Ghamdi, S.G. Indoor air quality in buildings: A comprehensive review on the factors influencing air pollution in residential and commercial structure. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 3276.
Yang, W.; Sohn, J.; Kim, J.; Son, B.; Park, J. Indoor air quality investigation according to age of the school buildings in Korea. J. Environ. Manag. 2009, 90, 348–354.
Butarewicz, A. Mikrobiologiczna jakosc powietrza w budynku Wydzialu Budownictwa i Inzynierii Srodowiska Politechniki Bialostockiej. Rocz. Państwowego Zakładu Hig. 2005, 2, 199–206.
Baek, S. Assessing indoor air quality. In Encyclopedia of Environmental Health; Elsevier: Oxford, UK, 2019; pp. 191–198.
Al-Rawi, M.; Lazonby, A.; Wai, A.A. Assessing Indoor Environmental Quality in a Crowded Low-Quality Built Environment: A Case Study. Atmosphere 2022, 13, 1703.
Gradisnik, L.; Bunc, G.; Ravnik, J.; Velnar, T. Enhancing Surgical Safety: Microbiological Air Control in Operating Theatres at University Medical Centre Maribor. Diagnostics 2024, 14, 1054.
Al-Rawi, M.; Ikutegbe, C.A.; Auckaili, A.; Farid, M.M. Sustainable technologies to improve indoor air quality in a residential house—A case study in Waikato, New Zealand. Energy Build. 2021, 250, 111283.

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