United States Environmental Protection Agency Air and Energy Engineering Research Laboratory Research Triangle Park NC 27711 Research and Development EPA/600/S9-86/020 Sept. 1986 &EPA Project Summary Proceedings of an Engineering Foundation Conference on Management of Atmospheres in Tightly Enclosed Spaces J. E. Janssen Indoor air pollution is rapidly being recognized as a major problem in build- ings. An Engineering Foundation Con- ference was held in Santa Barbara in October 1983 to assess the state of knowledge about management of at- mospheres in tightly enclosed spaces and to discuss newer methods for miti- gation of indoor pollutants. Approxi- mately 25 invited speakers represent- ing most of the groups doing significant work in this area and 20 interested col- leagues attended. ASHRAE sponsored the conference with interest stemming from its Standard 62-1981, "Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality." DOE and EPA were cosponsors with interest in energy requirements for the ventila- tion of buildings and for better defini- tion of indoor air quality problems and related control technology. Specific ob- jectives for this conference were the as- sessment of the state of knowledge for consideration in the revision of ASHRAE Standard 62-1981 and provid- ing background information for both DOE and EPA in planning their pro- grams for improving indoor air quality. Conference arrangements were coor- dinated by the Engineering Foundation, endowed with a grant from Ambrose E. Swasey (a successful machine tool manufacturer) in 1914 "for the further- ing of research in Science and Engineer- ing and for the advancement of the pro- fession of engineering and the good of mankind." This Project Summary was devel- oped by EPA's Air and Energy Engineer- ing Research Laboratory, Research Tri- angle Park, NC, to announce key findings of the research project that is fully documented in a separate report of the same title (see Project Report ordering information at back). The Conference The conference program was divided into two parts: the first, devoted to defining major pollution problems in buildings; and the second, assessing the state of the art of control techniques. James Frazier, National Research Coun- cil, discussed several indoor pollutants and the relationship of exposure, dose, and advance health effects and the need for documentation in Standard 62-1981. Many of the pollutants in indoor air re- sult in an accumulative dose from expo- sure to their various sources. Often the very young and the very old spend most of their time in the home. Workers, on the other hand are exposed in the work place 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. Thus, the dose accumulated by an indi- vidual may be substantially greater in the home even though contaminant lev- els there are much lower than in the work place or in outdoor ambient air. Thus, the work place threshold limit val- ues (TLVs) cannot be used as limits for exposure in the home in the same way they are used in the work place. Stand- ard 62-1981 has used a reduction factor of 1/10 of the TLV for several pollutants. The rationale for using this factor was that there are four times as many hours of exposure in the indoor environment as in the work place. The safety factor of 1/10 of the TLV concentration was intro- duced because infants and the aged may be less able to tolerate stress in- ------- duced by contaminants. This is an un- certain practice that has no data base upon which the extrapolation of work place TLVs can be proven to be accept- able. There is a critical need to accu- rately and objectively assess the health risks to all occupants thus exposed to known hazardous indoor pollutants. It was also noted that the human nose is most sensitive to the presence of odor- ous pollutants; this recognition can lead to complaints about indoor pollution. It is important to have knowledgeable people with appropriate instruments who can follow, up on complaints and obtain the facts about the nature, char- acter, and concentrations of the pollu- tants. Greg Traynor, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, reported on the use of un- vented combustion systems. Kerosene and gas fired space heaters can be di- vided into two classes, radiant and con- vective. Radiant heaters cool the flame and reduce nitrogen oxide emission. This flame quenching tends to produce more carbon monoxide, however. Con- vective heaters tend to produce less car- bon monoxide but more nitrogen ox- ides. Carbon monoxide emissions tend to decrease as operating time increases. This is probably due to a gradual in- crease in flame temperature with oper- ating time. Wood stoves, even though they are vented, tend to smoke and leak combus- tion products into a home, especially during start-up. Ventilation rates for uin- vented combustion systems need to be established. Much progress has been made in re- ducing formaldehyde emission rates from plywood and particle board ac- cording to C. Beat Meyer, Professor of Chemistry, Washington State Univer- sity. Differences greater than ten-fold in the formaldehyde emission from differ- ent manufacturers' particle boards have been measured. The molar ratio of the reactants in urea formaldehyde resins has a marked influence on the amount of unreacted formaldehyde. Manufac- tured homes (e.g., mobile homes) may contain as much as 1 Ib (0.5 kg) of unre- acted formaldehyde. While there is a 5% cost penalty and some problems with supplies of particle board and plywood with low formalde- hyde emission rates, it appears that the industry is working quietly to reduce formaldehyde emission rates in manu- factured homes. It also appears that the 0.1 ppm recommended limit for formaldehyde is achievable and reason- able based on documented comfort criteria. Thomas Mathews, Oak Ridge Na- tional Laboratory, also discussed the emission of formaldehyde from wood products. He has measured emission rates as a function of temperature and humidity in a special Teflon-lined cham- ber. Teflon was required to minimize the collection of formaldehyde molecules on the walls of the chamber. Emission rates were found to be a func- tion of the thickness of the material (e.g., chipboard, plywood), the temper- ature, the humidity, and the ambient concentration of vapor in the air. Mod- els have been developed for describing internal formaldehyde concentration gradients in terms of temperature, hu- midity, and ambient formaldehyde vapor pressure. The interaction of ambi- ent conditions with the materials pro- duces variable emission rates that upset a simple ventilation model based on a constant emission rate. Increasing the ventilation rate to reduce ambient formaldehyde concentration increases the emission rate. Thus, the reduction in ambient formaldehyde concentration is not linear with respect to ventilation rate. Other measures (e.g., more opti- mum formulation of the adhesives or sealing (passification) of the surfaces) also may be needed. Manufacturers ap- pear to be making progress in this direc- tion. P. Ole Fanger from the University of Denmark described work on ventilation to control odor. His group has been re- peating Yaglou's classic work carried out in the early 1930s. Fanger has used relatively large groups of college stu- dents in larger rooms than Yaglou used. Unlike Yaglou, Fanger finds no corre- spondence between ventilation rate and space per person for odor control. Both Fanger and W. Cain, J.B. Pierce Labora- tory, Yale University have found a slight correlation between odor dissatisfac- tion and C02 level. There is greater dis- satisfaction as the C02 rises. Both Fanger's and Cain's experiments have been carried out with visitors (i.e., the subjects were brought from a "clean" space into the test space, where condi- tions had been established by other oc- cupants), and asked to vote immedi- ately on acceptability. The present outdoor air flow rate of 2.5 L/S specified in Standard 62-1981 will satisfy only 50% of the visitors. A flow rate of 8 L/S (16 cfm) is needed to satisfy 80% of the visitors. Adapted occupants in a space (i.e., those who have been there for 15 min) find 2.5 L/S generally acceptable. Thus, it appears that the ventilation standard should consider the difference between visitors and adapted occu- pants in various applications. Fanger also discussed some of Cain's data on smoking. Cain has found that 80% acceptance will require 120 m3/hr (33.3 L/S or 70 cfm) of ventilation per cigarette. With the normal smoking rate of 0.6 cigarette per occupant (both smokers and non-smokers), this corre- sponds to a required ventilation rate of around 20 L/S per occupant, not far from the 17.5 L/S per occupant (35 cfm) recommended in 62-1981. J. Repace pointed out that people with allergic dis- eases respond to tobacco smoke differ- ently and are generally much more sen- sitive. James Repace, EPA, reviewed the his- tory of the knowledge of smoking dan- gers. The first report of the Surgeon General implicating tobacco as a cause of cancer came out in 1964. By 1979 there was overwhelming knowledge of the health risk related to tobacco smoke. Approximately 30% of the adult popula- tion smoke two cigarettes/hour at 10 min per cigarette. Thus, 30% smoking 30% of time means that 11 % of the pop- ulation is always smoking. Repace has related health risks to ventilation rate and finds that 9.5 L/S minimum outdoor air produces a health risk of about 1.5 x 10~3. This is higher than the ideal risk of 10~5 realized for many dangers, but is less than the risk accepted for haz- ards such as automobile travel. The 9.5 L/S value is about at the point of dimin- ishing returns. A 10~5 risk would require 550 L/S of outdoor air per person. Ignor- ing the smoking risk and using the min- imum outdoor air flow rate of 2.4 L/S raises the risk to a clearly unacceptable level. Repace expects to publish his rec- ommendations for tobacco smoke con- trol soon. Robert Trietman, Harvard, also dis- cussed the problem of "side smoke." Smokers tend to hold their cigarettes away from their own person when not actually inhaling. The Harvard Air Pollu- tion/Lung Study found that although 30% of the adult population smoke, be- tween 50 and 75% of the children in the study live in homes where at least one person smokes. These children show in- creased pulmonary disease and differ- ence in lung function. It has been found in Japan that non-smoking women who live with husbands who smoke have twice the cancer risk as those who live with non-smoking husbands. Studies in ------- Greece showed a 2.4 times risk increase when husbands smoked one pack of cigarettes per day and 3.4 times in- crease for two packs per day. There are insufficient data to reveal any differ- ences in health risk associated with the type of heating system or use of elec- tronic air cleaners. A. (Tony) Nero of Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory discussed the radon prob- lem. He feels that the present standard, while recognizing radon as a contami- nant of concern, oversimplifies the con- trol problem. The radon concentration may be somewhat independent of infil- tration since stack effect, which in- creases infiltration, also draws radon from the soil into the structure. He also finds that radon concentration in water does not necessarily correlate with its usual distribution in the soil. Filters that remove particulates do reduce radon progeny. The risk factor associated with radon is about 2 x 10~4 per working level month (WLM). One pico currie per. liter of air is equivalent to 0.2 WLM. Nero feels that ventilation alone is insuf- ficient for proper control of radon. James Jaax of Johnson Space Center discussed the special problems of creat- ing an acceptable spacecraft environ- ment. Temperatures around 26°C with relative humidity of 50% or less have been found acceptable. The absence of gravity has no effect as long as forced circulation is maintained. Air circulation rates of around 7.6 m/min are desirable. (This is consistent with change from natural to forced convection over the human body in an earthbound environ- ment.) Carbon dioxide levels of 1% have been used in the space shuttle. Space stations are expected to be held to 0.5%. Odor is something of a problem, how- ever; there is a buildup of trace meta- bolic products in the air. Preston McNall of NBS discussed the issue of building codes in the U.S. Thirty-five states have statewide build- ing codes. Thirty-two of these are based on one of three model building codes. The Building Officials Code Administra- tion (BOCA) code is used in the north- eastern and midwestern U.S. The Inter- national Conference of Building Officials (ICBO) code is used in the west- ern U.S. The Southern Building Code Congress (SBCC) code is used in the south. In addition 80% of the cities with over 500,000 population use the model codes. These codes all use at least parts of the ASHRAE Standard 62-73. Several states are considering use of Standard 62-1981 as recommended in ASHRAE's position statement on ventilation. The codes vary considerably in their treat- ment of such things as tobacco smoke. The Southern code, for example, ig- nores tobacco smoke as a special con- sideration. In general, codes are en- forced by review of building designs. There are no performance inspections. A few codes require a positive source of combustion air for furnaces and fire- places, but there is title enforcement of ventilation codes in single family resi- dences. John Carlton-Foss discussed relation- ships between psychological, thermal comfort, and physiological approaches to testing responses of people to envi- ronmental conditions in the laboratory or in the field. He showed the evolution of the ballots used to measure subjects' evaluations of thermal environments. He emphasized that Rohles had used a semantic differential ballot with multi- ple scales for the experiments which led to the comfort zone in ASHRAE Stand- ard 55-1981, and that a similar ballot should be used in work with comfort and indoor air quality. He said that indi- vidual differences play an important role in thermal comfort and can be ex- pected to play a similar role in response to pollutants in indoor air. He cited a field study in which personality was found to be the most significant factor in occupants' satisfaction or dissatisfac- tion with the "stuffiness" of indoor air. The subjective responses measured with such ballots can also be quantified through measuring the impacts of in- door air pollutants on people's perform- ance. There are specific and general ef- fects, and he cited his recent study on seating and performance as an example of measuring the impact of general stress on performance. He cautioned that investigators should be aware of complex, and sometimes confusing, in- teractions between many variables; e.g., psychological and ergonomic ones. There are methods for separating the variables, and these should be taken into consideration when designing new work, or when reviewing work that does not explicitly include them. Harvey Sachs, National Indoor Envi- ronmental Institute, presented two pa- pers on the subject or radon. The first was a discussion of a study of the preva- lence of radon in homes in eastern Pennsylvania. His study of 10 homes in one town showed that older homes tend to have less radon than new homes due to generally lower infiltra- tion (ventilation) rates in newer con- struction. Local geology is an important predictor of radon contamination. Soil permeability and source strength influ- ence radon level in the homes. Sachs stated that there are several orders of magnitude variation in radon exposure for people living in the U.S. and that the radon level in a home often is an indica- tion of soil radon level and permeability. His conclusion was that, although expo- sure to radon in the eastern U.S. is rela- tively high, little excess lung cancer is to be expected now. The highest expo- sures are in the stock of new houses. The cumulative population dose will re- main low for the next 20 years. It would appear that this may be a time bomb waiting for the future. U.S. data on radon problems are still sketchy. In his second paper, Sachs described an experiment in which radon was re- moved from the soil under the floor slab of a house by ventilation of the soil. In one house an open unlined sump in the basement floor was sealed and fined with an exhaust fan vented to the out- doors. This depressurized the soil under the floor and decreased the radon con- centration in the basement by 90%. In a second case, a basementless, earth- sheltered house had sub-slab air ducts which brought in large amounts of radon. A partial vacuum on the per- forated parameter drain pipe reduced radon concentrations by 80% without sealing the ducts. Ventilating a drain pipe around the foundation of a third house also gave an 80% reduction in radon. Depressurization of the soil under and around the foundation sub- stantially reduced radon levels in all three houses. Dean Baker, UCLA School of Public Health, discussed his investigations of "sick buildings" when he was health in- vestigator for NIOSH before his present appointment at UCLA. Measurements were made by questionnaires and inter- views. Efforts then were made to corre- late subjective data with factors such as location inside the building and location of the building in the community; time of day, week, or season; and similar variables in an effort to find possible cause/effect relationships. Specific sub- jective symptoms were complaints of "stuffiness" of the building environ- ment and absenteeism caused by vari- ous illnesses attributed to the building environment. Physical measurements showed a plethora of chemical contami- nants usually well below recommended concentration limits. Thermal discom- ------- fort was a common factor. The NBC building in New York City was an exam- ple. Nineteen contaminants were identi- fied, but all were below the lowest rec- ommended industrial limits, but use of industrial limits has been questioned. Building ventilation was not measured but was estimated to be 35% below the recommended ventilation rate. Incom- plete detailed measurement of all perti- nent factors is a problem in much of the data on sick buildings. There is consid- erable interaction between chemical, physical, biological, and social factors. Acute symptoms include hypersensitiv- ity to pneumonltis (humidifier fever), dermatitis, and non-specific (sick at home) complaints. Chronic symptoms include chronic respiratory disease, neurasthenia, and possibly cancer. Baker said that the effects of large parti- cles of fiberous glass, which cause der- matitis, do not correlate well with venti- lation rate. Problems are often due to perception of conditions. Physical re- sponse to contaminants occurred in the first 4 weeks of exposure. Reports of multiple symptoms followed. Baker rec- ommended creation of an environmen- tal committee to deal with complaints. David Harris, National Institute of Building Sciences, discussed mitigation of problems through the use of substi- tute materials. NIBS conducted a study, in 1983, to compile and organize a com- prehensive list of building materials, products, and systems typically used to construct office buildings, schools, and homes for the elderly since 1970 in the Washington D.C. area. Typical activities which occur in these buildings were also listed, as were organizational refer- ence sources for more detailed informa- tion on each subject area. The effect of these materials and activities on indoor air quality for each of the three building types will be further studied by the EPA as part of the Agency's total exposure monitoring program. While the data and analyses are far from complete, this approach appears to be a good effort to identify some sources of indoor air pol- lutants. Brian Krafthefer, Honeywell, pre- sented data showing the effect of an electronic air cleaner on radon progeny concentrations. Measurements of radon progeny in the basement of a home in Minneapolis revealed an inverse corre- lation with barometric pressure and a diurnal variation with temperature when the furnace was not operating and the fan and air cleaner were off. Activity levels up to about 0.03 Wl, three times the limit specified in Standard 62-1981, were measured. Operation of the fur- nace fan reduced the peaks by 50%. Op- eration of the electronic air cleaner held the activity level to less than 0.005 Wl, half of the recommended limit. At this level there was no apparent correlation with barometric pressure or tempera- ture. J. Donald Cummins, Purafil Inc., dis- cussed the use of adsorbing and oxidiz- ing filters. Activated carbon has a sur- face area of about 735,000 m2/kg of material. Vapor molecules contacting this surface are held by Van der Waals forces. Adsorption is proportional to molecular weight. Thus, materials such as activated carbon and activated alu- mina are much more effective in remov- ing large organic molecules than they are in trapping small gas molecules like CO. Removal efficiency can be en- hanced by adding reactive chemicals which combine with the trapped molecules. Potassium permanganate added to activated alumina is very effec- tive on oxidizable vapors. The adsorbed molecules are oxidized by the perman- ganate. Vapors such as hydrogen sul- fide and formaldehyde can be efficiently removed from air by this material. The filter medium has a finite life, however, but the cost is often an attractive alter- nate to other air cleaning methods when special problems exist. Amos Turk, New York City College, discussed the five different physical processes of using granular materials for air cleaning. Molecules may be physically adsorbed on the surface of porous materials such as activated car- bon or alumina. The addition of various reagents can cause the adsorbed molecules (P) to be neutralized (N), oxi- dized (O), complexed (C), or decom- posed (D). The typical means of gas/vapor filtra- tion with granular media are: Possible Pollutant Filtration Means Body Odor Cosmetics Plasticizers Radon Tobacco Odors Fecal, Urine Odors N02, SO2 Ozone Peroxides Ethylene Mercury Vapor Metal Hydrizes Fumigants (EDB) P, N P P P P,0 P, N, O, C P, N, 0 D P, D C C P, 0 P Except for the decomposition of ozone or peroxides, the reagents are con- sumed with use, and the filtration mate- rial must be replaced or rejuvenated pe- riodically. James E. Woods, Iowa State Univer- sity (recently joined Honeywell), dis- cussed some of the compromises be- tween air quality and cost. Doing nothing to humidifiers and ducts, which may sometimes be wet, introduces a prohibitive cost due to the danger of Le- gionnaires' disease. Rigorous mainte- nance and special treatments to im- prove indoor air quality are required. Biological contaminants are not presently spelled out in Standard 62- 1981, but should be considered. Woods also questioned the acceptability of 2500 ppm of C02- European and Japanese standards limit C02 to 1000 ppm. Woods suggested that ventilation systems might be rated as to effective- ness, perhaps on a scale of 1 to 10. J. E. Janssen discussed the problem of ventilation or air mixing efficiency. Standard 62-1981 assumes that all of the outdoor air that is inducted into a building is effective in diluting the con- taminants. Tracer gas tests and flow models show that this is a poor assump- tion. When the supply outlets and return inlets of a ventilating system are both in the ceiling, as they commonly are, and if the exhaust air is taken from the recircu- lating air stream, as it usually is, it is possible for a significant amount of out- door air to be inducted into the supply, bypass directly from the supply outlet to the return, and be exhausted without ever mixing at the occupied level, ft model has been devised to calculate this wasted ventilation. Tracer gas decay measurements at the return inlei and at the occupied level provide the needed data. Mixing efficiencies of onl> 50% may be common. Robert Macriss, Institute of Gas Tech nology, discussed infiltration in residen tial structures. Infiltration is the mair passive means of controlling air quality in residences. IGT data show that infil tration can vary from 0.01 to 1.0 ai change per hour in a given house, IG' has procedures and a model for extrap olating single point measurements They have found that the concentre tions of contaminants from interne sources are more a function of interzon mixing than of infiltration rate. Both th LBL and IGT models confirm the usefu ness of single cell models. William Fisk, Lawrence Berkeley Lat oratory, reviewed the use of mechanic! ------- ventilation systems in residences. Dur- ing the past 5 years, 15,000 to 20,000 units per year have been sold. This is a small fraction of the homes that have been built. Mechanical ventilation is ef- fective against both radon and its progeny. Enthalpy type air-to-air heat exchangers conserve humidity in cold climates but also tend to conserve dis- solved formaldehyde. Air-to-air heat ex- changers have discouraging econom- ics: first cost may be upward of $500; fan power ranges fom 0.7 to 3.6 W/0.5 L-s; thermal efficiencies, from 50 to 70%; air flow rates, from 40 to 120 US; and payback periods in climates like Minneapolis, from 12 to more than 30 years. In Washington, D.C., the payback period ranges from 16 to more than 30 years. Leakage between air streams re- duces efficiency, and cold weather op- eration can produce icing problems. Good maintenance is required to pre- vent biological contamination and a possible source of legionellosis. E. Sterling, TDS, Ltd., discussed a data base he has on air quality and ven- tilation in 143 buildings. Unfortunately ventilation rates were not always re- ported with measured contaminant lev- els. Sterling believes that occupancy is the best measure of contaminant load in office buildings. He also found poor cor- relation between the building design and actual occupancy. Since code en- forcement is usually based on design, it is likely that many buildings are oper- ated well outside the recommendations of the ventilation standard. D. Moschandreas, Illinois Institute of Technology, Research Institute, re- viewed measurements of emissions from gas cooking ranges. Tests were made in a chamber with a ventilation rate of 50 L7S (consistent with Standard 62-1981). Three different ranges were tested, each in two different extremes of air/fuel mixture: a normal stoichiomet- ric, blue flame, and a yellow, diffusion flame representing a malfunctioning burner. Formaldehyde emission rates of 1200 to 8000 |i.g/hr were measured. Tom Phillips discussed public health considerations in the development of residential building standards in Califor- nia. The standard was adopted in 1978. This standard required caulking around the sole plate and wall outlets, sealing of ducts in unconditioned spaces, and caulking around windows and doors. Outside venting of cooking ranges was recommended. This residential stand- ard was implemented through the use of an extensive questionnaire to be an- swered by the building contractor. New design targets are 0.4 air changes per hour (ach). Houses achieving 0.3 ach are to have heat exchangers and dehumidi- fiers. The code is the result of much tes- timony and compromise. Robert Treitman, Harvard University, also reviewed experimental techniques for paniculate measurements. The Har- vard group has used high volume and dichotomous samplers. Aerosol mass balance instruments have been less successful for low concentrations found in residences. Nagda, Geomet, reviewed the status of their current project with EPRI. Two "identical" 130 m2 houses have been built and are being used for studies of indoor generated pollutants. The houses are unoccupied, and one is used as a control. Typical household activi- ties such as cooking on a gas range, vacuum cleaning, and clothes launder- ing generate pollutants to be measured. Measurements include CO, NOX, radon, formaldehyde, particulates, and C02. In- filtration is measured with SF6 tracer gas. Carbon monoxide rose to 7.5 ppm upstairs after 2 hours of operation of the gas range with the furnace fan off and 5 ppm with the fan on. Sealing of the structure to achieve 40% reduction (by blower door test) had little effect on CO concentration. P. 0. Fanger, Technical University of Denmark, reviewed recent studies of the effect of drafts on comfort. The test chamber consisted of a room in which subjects were exposed to air velocity fluctuations as they occur in normally ventilated spaces. Fluctuating velocities have been found to be more objection- able than steady velocities. Tempera- tures of 20, 23, and 26°C have been in- vestigated. Surprisingly, short haired subjects complained less than long haired. Twenty percent of the subjects felt a mean velocity of 0.15 m/s (30 ft/ min) as uncomfortable at 20°C. This in- dicates a need to review the Air Diffuser Performance Index which defines 0.35 m/s (70 ft/min) as the threshold of dis- comfort. The final session of the conference addressed the questions of how ASHRAE Ventilation Standard 62-1981 should respond to new data. It was sug- gested that the Air Quality Procedure could be based on health risk. People accept personal risk of 10~1 to 10~2. Lifetime smoking risk is 10"1, lifetime risk for driving an automobile is 10~2, and occupational risks are generally in the range of 10~2 to 10~3. Environmen- tal risks are generally less than 10~3, and some are as low as 10~5. The cur- rent level of risk in the home is in the range of 10~2 to 10~3. It is probably im- practical to try to reduce home risk be- low 10~3. Commercial buildings have risk factors in the range of 10~3 which may be a reasonable level. Risk factors are politically difficult to accept, and in- voluntary risk must be lower than vol- untary risk. The consensus seemed to be that the Ventilation Rate Procedure in Standard 62-1981 should be maintained. The Air Quality option could be modified. Per- mission for innovative procedures should be maintained. The standard should specify important pollutants and define maximum permissible levels. The standard should tell the designer how to use the information. Specific recommendations and prob- lems were: 1. ASHRAE needs guidance on accept- able risks—is 10~3 acceptable? Morbidity risk, rather than mortality risk, should be used. Rationale for risk should not, however, be in- cluded in the standard. Simply stay- ing at home should not increase personal risk. 2. There is a need to define risk in the home. Larger samples are needed. 3. Optimum environmental condi- tions for productivity need to be de- fined. 4. Indoor air pollutants need to be characterized on a broader scale. 5. Methods are needed to verify venti- lation rates specified in Standard 62-1981. 6. Ventilation effectiveness in build- ings must be determined. 7. The effectiveness of air quality con- trol options needs to be evaluated. 8. Human detection limits for formaldehyde need to be improved. 9. Health effects related to IAQ need to be investigated. 10. Improved instrumentation is needed both for research and for compliance tests. 11. Should occupational or environ- mental standards apply to indoor environments? 12. How can we achieve implementa- tion of, and compliance with, the standard? 13. There is a need to model pollutant behavior in buildings. What is the relationship between comfort, en- ergy, health, and productivity? 14. The acceptability of body odor and tobacco smoke needs to be defined. ------- How should the differences be- tween visitors and adapted occu- pants be handled? 15. There is a need to coordinate with other organizations and trade unions. 16. How should sensitive groups (e.g., allergic or sick subjects) be consid- ered? 17. Causes of, and remedies for, sick buildings need to be identified. J. E. Janssen is with Honeywell, Inc., Technology Strategy Center, Roseville, MN 55109. W. Gene Tucker is the EPA Project Officer (see below). The complete report, entitled "Proceedings of an Engineering Foundation Conference on Management of Atmospheres in Tightly Enclosed Spaces," (Order No. PB 86-219 193/AS; Cost: $16.95, subject to change) will be available only from: National Technical Information Service 5285 Port Royal Road Springfield, VA 22161 Telephone: 703-487-4650 The EPA Project Officer can be contacted at: Air and Energy Engineering Research Laboratory U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Research Triangle Park, NC 27711 ------- K • V '. - Of- United States Environmental Protection Agency Center for Environmental Research Information Cincinnati OH 45268 Official Business Penalty for Private Use $300 EPA/600/S9-86/020 IL ------- |