Compliance of indoor air quality during sleep with legislation and guidelines – A case study of Lisbon dwellings

Canha, Nuno; Alves, Adriana; Marta, Catarina Simão; Lage, Joana; Belo, Joana; Faria, Tiago; Verde, Sandra Cabo; Viegas, Carla; Alves, Célia; Almeida, Susana Marta

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2020.114619

Cited by 25 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 49 publications

(81 reference statements)

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“…In the case of passive methods, such as the surface swabs used in this study, they allow to characterize the contamination over a longer period of time (after the last cleaning procedure), thus providing a more comprehensive picture of the real exposure [46][47][48][49]. Indeed, they have previously been used in several indoor environments [46,[51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61] generally providing more detailed and complete information regarding fungal species distribution. The use of both sampling methods allows to overcome each method limitation, ensuring a more precise exposure assessment [44].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbiological Contamination Assessment in Higher Education Institutes

Viegas¹,

Pimenta

Dias

et al. 2021

Atmosphere

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The higher education sector represents a unique environment and it acts as a work environment, a learning environment for students, and frequently, also a home environment. The aim of this study was to determine the microbial contamination (SARS-CoV-2, fungi, and bacteria) in Higher Education Facilities (HEI) by using active and passive sampling methods and combining culture-based methods with molecular tools targeting Aspergillus section Fumigati. In addition, the resistance to azole profile was also assessed. Surface samples showed a range of total bacterial contamination between 1 × 103 to 3.1 × 106 CFU·m−2, while Gram-negative bacteria ranged from 0 to 1.9 × 104 CFU·m−2. Fungal contamination ranged from 2 × 103 to 1.8 × 105 CFU·m−2 on MEA, and from 5 × 103 to 1.7 × 105 CFU·m−2 on DG18. The most prevalent species found on both media was Cladosporium sp. (47.36% MEA; 32.33% DG18). Aspergillus genera was observed on MEA (3.21%) and DG18 (14.66%), but not in the supplemented media used for the azole screening. Aspergillus section Fumigati was detected in 2 air samples (2.22%, 2 out of 90 samples) by qPCR. When testing for SARS-CoV-2 all results were negative. The present study showed that although cleaning and disinfection procedures are done regularly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, being effective in eliminating SARS-CoV-2, surfaces were often contaminated with microorganisms other than SARS-CoV-2. This can be a result of increasing resistance to biocides, and to the wide range of environmental factors that can contribute to the dissemination of microbial contamination indoors.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbiological Contamination Assessment in Higher Education Institutes

Viegas¹,

Pimenta

Dias

et al. 2021

Atmosphere

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“…Many studies monitored CO 2 concentrations in the literature, as shown in Table 3. The literature shows that CO 2 concentration levels can be a useful indicator of the building's overall performance, affecting occupant health [14].…”

Section: Air Exchange Ratesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The literature shows that indoor air quality and occupant health can be improved by retrofitting a mechanical ventilation system [12]; Kang et al [13] studied 40 homes in Chicago and showed that putting an HVAC system into operation resulted in significant reductions in CO 2 , NO 2 , PM 1 , PM 2.5 , and PM 10 concentrations with an average between 33 and 42%. In Portugal, indoor air quality of 10 residences was investigated for suitability of the ventilation during the sleep period [14]. AER was measured using CO 2 as the tracer gas, which the occupants emit.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Indoor air CO2 concentrations and ventilation rates in two residences in İzmir, Turkey

TAŞER

UÇARYILMAZ

ÇATAROĞLU

et al. 2022

Environmental Research and Technology

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Houses are the places where people spend most of their time. That is why indoor air quality at home is essential for public health. Sufficient ventilation is the factor to avoid accumulation of pollutants in indoor air, which include microorganisms, such as SARS-CoV-2. Therefore, adequate ventilation is needed to provide good indoor air quality for human health and reduce infection risk at home. There are no reports of residential ventilation rates in Turkey. In this study, CO 2 concentrations were measured in two residences in Izmir, Turkey. Three experiments were conducted to determine background concentrations and the rate of natural ventilation with infiltration and opening windows. Results show that air exchange provided by infiltration is low for both case rooms, while adequate ventilation could be achieved with natural ventilation under the studied conditions. Infiltration provided air exchange and ventilation rates of 0.18 h -1 and 5.9 m 3 /h for Case 1 and 0.29 h -1 and 8.23 m 3 /h for Case 2, respectively. Air exchange and ventilation rates were increased to 2.36 h -1 and 76.9 m 3 /h for Case 1 and 1.2 h -1 and 34 m 3 /h for Case 2, respectively, by opening the windows. Although ventilation can be provided by opening the windows, the other factors that determine its rate, e.g., meteorological variables, cannot be controlled by the occupants. Consequently, people cannot ensure the good indoor air quality in bedrooms and sufficient reduction in transmission of pathogenic microorganisms; therefore, risk of spreading diseases such as COVID-19 at home.

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“…Many studies have been conducted to analyze the relationship between the concentration of pollutants during sleep and the quality of sleep. Some studies found that the work efficiency of residents the next day increased when the concentration of CO 2 in their sleeping areas decreased [9][10][11][12]. Other studies [13] were also conducted to examine the relationship between the level of indoor exposure of residents to PM and the quality of their sleep.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of a Ventilation System Using Window Cavity

2020

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A household unit of an existing apartment in which residents lived was selected, and the indoor air quality in each space of the unit was measured for analysis. Analysis of the measurement data indicated that the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) constantly increased beyond 1000 ppm when a resident stayed indoors for an hour or more. Specifically, the concentration of CO2 increased when the resident was asleep to a level wherein negative impacts on health were observed. Moreover, the inflow of particulate matter (PM) was mainly caused by natural ventilation from the outside rather than the behavior of indoor residents, which generated an insignificant amount of PM. This study proposes a new ventilation system for solving the above-described problems. According to the system, when a window is closed, the window cavity created between a new frame and the existing frame is utilized as an air path for ventilation. The application of this system ensures a stable amount of ventilation through forced ventilation and prevents the inflow of external PM. Moreover, this system was designed to recover indoor heat through the window cavity and facilitate the pre-heating of outdoor air through heat collection based on solar radiation during the day.

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Compliance of indoor air quality during sleep with legislation and guidelines – A case study of Lisbon dwellings

Cited by 25 publications

References 49 publications

Microbiological Contamination Assessment in Higher Education Institutes

Microbiological Contamination Assessment in Higher Education Institutes

Indoor air CO2 concentrations and ventilation rates in two residences in İzmir, Turkey

Development of a Ventilation System Using Window Cavity

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