United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Environmental
Engineering and Technology
Washington DC 20460
Research and Development
EPA-600/S7-81 -119 Mar. 1982
Project Summary
Inventory of Current Indoor
Air Quality-Related Research
C. Beat Meyer and Robert P. Hartley
The Inventory lists a total of 171
current or recently completed projects
relating to indoor air quality. It covers
six specific areas of research: moni-
toring, instrumentation, health effects,
control technology, risk assessment
and pollutant characterization. It is
cross-referenced to the following
pollutant groups: radon, nitrogen
oxides, carbon monoxide, formalde-
hyde, asbestos, respirable particu-
lates, organics, tobacco smoke, odor,
ozone, biological pollutants, and
multi-pollutant studies. Information
provided for each project includes the
name of the principal investigator,
project sponsor, funding level and
abstract.
The Inventory is designed to be a
useful tool for researchers in the field
of indoor air pollution and for analysts,
architects, builders and administra-
tors who need to understand the
problem, as well as possible solutions.
Among other things, the document
identifies experts who can advise the
building industry on any indoor air
quality topic under study.
This Project Summary was devel-
oped by EPA's Office of Environmen-
tal Engineering and Technology,
Washington, DC, to announce the full
indoor air quality Inventory report (see
Project Report ordering information at
back).
Introduction
Indoor air pollution has gained
increased attention from both researchers
and officials in government as well as
in the private sector, in the past few
years. Americans spend 75-90 percent
of their time indoors where they are
frequently exposed to significant con-
centrations of a variety of pollutants.
Pollutants of major concern include
radon and radon progency, formalde-
hyde and other organics, particulates,
carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide,
asbestos and airborne bacteria, viruses,
fungi and molds. For some of the
pollutants, indoor exposures are signifi-
cantly greater than outdoor exposures.
In some cases, indoor air quality
problems may be aggravated by energy
conservation measures, such as reduced
ventilation, unless mitigating measures
are taken.
An Inventory has been prepared
under the auspices of the Interagency
Research Group on Indoor Air Quality as
a part of its development of a "Plan for a
National Program on Indoor Air Research."
The Inventory documents work under
way or recently completed. The Inter-
agency Research Group includes repre-
sentatives of the following federal
agencies: Department of Energy, Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency, National
Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health, Consumer Product Safety Com-
mission, National Institute for Environ-
mental Health Sciences, Department of
Housing and Urban Development, the
Department of Commerce-National
Bureau of Standards, and the Depart-
ment of Defense.
Information in the Inventory was
gathered in an intensive solicitation
effort by Dr. C. Beat Meyer, Professor of
Chemistry at the University of Wash-
ington, while on assignment to EPA's
Industrial Environmental Research
Laboratory, Cincinnati, Ohio. The solici-
tation included telephone inquires to
persons known to be performing research
on the subject, as well as written
requests for information. Projects
included in the Inventory are, with some
exceptions, presented exactly as they
were described by the responsible
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researchers. Some project descriptions
were shortened to fit a standard format.
The Inventory is in three parts:
1) A list of abbreviations found
throughout the document.
2) An index/summary of the Inven-
tory. This section summarizes all
of the inventoried projects and
includes a matrix to enable users
to identify classes of pollutants
and technical disciplines to which
each project applies.
3) Project description sheets which
make up the bulk of the document.
They contain all of the information
provided by the researchers.
It is expected that the Inventory is not
complete, although every effort was
made to identify all related work.
Researchers are invited to submit
additional entries, which will be included
in periodic updates. Updating informa-
tion should be sent to:
Mr. Robert P. Hartley
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Industrial Environmental Research
Laboratory
5555 Ridge Avenue
Cincinnati, Ohio 45268
C. Beat Meyer is with the University of Washington, Seattle, WA; the EPA author
Robert P. Hartley is with the Industrial Environmental Research Laboratory,
Cincinnati, OH 45268.
David Berg is the EPA Project Officer (see below).
The complete report, entitled "Inventory of Current Indoor Air Quality-Related
Research." (Order No. PB 82-127 952: Cost: $16.50, 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:
Office of Environmental Engineering and Technology
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (RD-681)
Washington, DC 20460
U S GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, 1982 — 559-017/0704
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Center for Environmental Research
Information
Cincinnati OH 45268
Postage and
Fees Paid
Environmental
Protection
Agency
EPA 335
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use $300
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