Streamlining IAQ guidelines and investigating the effect of door opening/closing on concentrations of VOCs, formaldehyde, and NO2 in office buildings

Indoor air pollution and exposure assessment of the gulf cooperation council countries: A critical review

“…The results showed that an efficient indoor VOC reduction could be achieved if the ratio of makeup air to the recirculation air could fall within the range of 0.7−1.3 . According to Al-Hemoud et al (2018), application of conventional ventilation systems such as opening of doors compared to door closures in an office building did not result in a significant reduction in indoor VOC concentrations. In their study, both door opening and closure maintained VOC concentration levels of 10 ppb.…”

“…The impact of door opening/closure on three main indoor air pollutants (VOCs, HCHO, and NO 2 ) was investigated in a modern office complex in Kuwait city. When the doors were closed, significant amount of VOCs (81.5 ppb), HCHO (29.14 μg/m 3 ), and NO 2 (32.6 μg/m 3 ) were detected at p = 0.027, 0.018 and 0.002 (95% CI) levels, respectively (Al-Hemoud et al, 2018). Likewise, indoor classroom VOCs were ranged from 100 to 1000 ppb within four elementary schools in Kuwait (Al-Awadi, 2018).…”

An investigation of formaldehyde concentration in residences and the development of a model for the prediction of its emission rates

“…Because people stay and sleep at home at night, the air quality at night would have more influence on human health. During the night, the windows and doors were closed and the ventilation rate low, which could lead to an increased pollutant concentration [59] .…”

Evaluation of the Indoor Air Quality in Governmental Oversight Supermarkets (Co-Ops) in Kuwait

“…They are less definitive than the standards governing thermal comfort, for example [29]. This ambiguity in definition may refer to the unclear differentiation between how experts look to these standards for both safe the concentration level and the acceptable risk level [30]. If this problem is overstepped, however, there is a consensus in literature to adopt some common guidelines for indoor air quality pollutant values, which can be expressed as threshold concentrations above which negative health effects may arise.…”