Identifying air pollutants that pose a potential hazard indoors can facilitate exposure mitigation. In this study, we compiled summary results from 77 published studies reporting measurements of chemical pollutants were representative of concentrations in residences in the United States. These data were used to calculate representative mid-range and upper bound concentrations relevant to chronic exposures for 267 pollutants and representative peak concentrations relevant to acute exposures for 5 activity-associated pollutants. Representative concentrations are compared to available chronic and acute health standards for 97 pollutants. Fifteen pollutants are identified as contaminants of concern for chronic health effects in a large fraction of homes. Nine pollutants are identified as potential chronic health hazards in a substantial minority of homes and an additional nine are identified as potential hazards in a very small percentage of homes. Nine pollutants are identified as priority hazards based on robustness of reported concentration data and fraction of residences that appear to be impacted: acetaldehyde; acrolein; benzene; 1,3-butadiene; 1,4-dichlorobenzene; formaldehyde; naphthalene; nitrogen dioxide; and PM 2.5 . Activity-based emissions are shown to pose potential acute health hazards for PM 2.5 , formaldehyde, CO, chloroform, and NO 2 .4

Background: Indoor air pollutants (IAPs) cause multiple health impacts. Prioritizing mitigation options that differentially affect individual pollutants and comparing IAPs with other environmental health hazards require a common metric of harm.Objectives: Our objective was to demonstrate a methodology to quantify and compare health impacts from IAPs. The methodology is needed to assess population health impacts of large-scale initiatives—including energy efficiency upgrades and ventilation standards—that affect indoor air quality (IAQ).Methods: Available disease incidence and disease impact models for specific pollutant–disease combinations were synthesized with data on measured concentrations to estimate the chronic heath impact, in disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) lost, due to inhalation of a subset of IAPs in U.S. residences. Model results were compared with independent estimates of DALYs lost due to disease.Results: Particulate matter ≤ 2.5 μm in aerodynamic diameter (PM2.5), acrolein, and formaldehyde accounted for the vast majority of DALY losses caused by IAPs considered in this analysis, with impacts on par or greater than estimates for secondhand tobacco smoke and radon. Confidence intervals of DALYs lost derived from epidemiology-based response functions are tighter than those derived from toxicology-based, interspecies extrapolations. Statistics on disease incidence in the United States indicate that the upper-bound confidence interval for aggregate IAP harm is implausibly high.Conclusions: The approach demonstrated in this study may be used to assess regional and national initiatives that affect IAQ at the population level. Cumulative health impacts from inhalation in U.S. residences of the IAPs assessed in this study are estimated at 400–1,100 DALYs lost annually per 100,000 persons.

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05CH11231, the CEC under the Califoarnia Energy Commission contract No. EPC-15-037 and Aereco SA under Contract No. FP00003428. The contribution of Cerema is funded by the French Ministries in charge of sustainable development, transports and urban planning, and by the Région Auvergne Rhône-Alpes.