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Indoor air pollutant health prioritization in office buildings
Author(s) -
Sérafin Guillaume,
Blondeau Patrice,
Mandin Corinne
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
indoor air
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.387
H-Index - 99
eISSN - 1600-0668
pISSN - 0905-6947
DOI - 10.1111/ina.12776
Subject(s) - prioritization , environmental science , pollutant , air pollutants , exposure assessment , indoor air quality , hazard quotient , hazard , scope (computer science) , risk assessment , indoor air , computer science , environmental health , air pollution , environmental engineering , engineering , medicine , chemistry , computer security , organic chemistry , management science , programming language
This work presents an original method to identify priority indoor air pollutants in office buildings. It uses both a chronic risk assessment approach by calculating a hazard quotient, and a hazard classification method based on carcinogenic, mutagenic, reprotoxic, and endocrine disruptive effects. A graphical representation of the results provides a comprehensive and concise visualization of all of the information, including the number of buildings where each substance was measured, an indicator of exposure data robustness. Seventy‐one out of 342 substances (20%) for which indoor air concentrations have already been measured in office buildings were identified as priority pollutants. The results were compared to previous prioritization studies in various types of indoor environments to assess the reliability of the method and highlight its advantages. Sensitivity analyses were performed to reduce the geographical scope (OECD countries only), time scope (after 2010 only), and measurement duration (working hours only) and showed little influence on the results. Finally, 123 additional substances that could be present in office indoor air but could not be assessed due to the lack of measurement data are proposed for future monitoring surveys to update the prioritization of indoor air pollutants in offices.