Association between Four-Level Categorisation of Indoor Exposure and Perceived Indoor Air Quality

Katja Tähtinen, Sanna Lappalainen, Kirsi Karvala, Jouko Remes and Heidi Salonen
Additional contact information
Katja Tähtinen: Department of Civil Engineering, Aalto University, 02150 Espoo, Finland
Sanna Lappalainen: Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Healthy Workspaces, P.O. Box 40, 00032 Työterveyslaitos, Finland
Kirsi Karvala: Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Healthy Workspaces, P.O. Box 40, 00032 Työterveyslaitos, Finland
Jouko Remes: Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Healthy Workspaces, P.O. Box 40, 00032 Työterveyslaitos, Finland
Heidi Salonen: Department of Civil Engineering, Aalto University, 02150 Espoo, Finland

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 4, 1-15

Abstract: The aim of this study was to develop and test a tool for assessing urgency of indoor air quality (IAQ) measures. The condition of the 27 buildings were investigated and results were categorized. Statistical test studied the differences between the categories and the employees’ complaints about their work environment. To study the employees’ experiences of the work premises, a validated indoor air (IA) questionnaire was used. This study reveals a multifaceted problem: many factors affecting IAQ may also affect perceived IAQ, making it difficult to separate the impurity sources and ventilation system deficiencies affecting to employee experiences. An examination of the relationship between the categories and perceived IAQ revealed an association between the mould odour perceived by employees and mould detected by the researcher. A weak link was also found between the assessed categories and environmental complaints. However, we cannot make far-reaching conclusions regarding the assessed probability of abnormal IA exposure in the building on the basis of employee experiences. According to the results, categorising tool can partly support the assessment of the urgency for repairs when several factors that affect IAQ are taken into account.

Keywords: indoor air; impurity sources; categorisation; building investigation; repair urgency; indoor air questionnaire (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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