Indoor Air Quality - Factors Influencing Indoor Air Quality, Aspects Of Indoor Air Quality, Sick Building Syndrome
people develop inside buildings
The chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of the atmosphere inside of dwellings and in commercial and institutional buildings are influenced in numerous ways. Sometimes, effects on indoor air quality can be sufficient to cause people to experience significant discomfort, and even to become physically ill.
People vary greatly in their sensitivity to air pollution, both inside and outside of buildings. People also differ in the sorts of symptoms that they develop in response to deterioration of air quality. Consequently, it has proven difficult for scientists to characterize the dimensions of indoor air quality, and to precisely define the nature of the subsequent environmental illnesses that some people appear to develop. This has led to a great deal of environmental and medical controversy, concerning the extent and intensity of a syndrome of air-quality related illnesses, known as the "sick building syndrome."
Additional Topics
Air quality inside of buildings is related to a diverse range of chemical, physical, and biological factors. In any situation, the importance of these many influences can vary greatly, depending on the emission rates of various chemicals, the frequency with which inside air is exchanged with ambient air, the efficiency of atmospheric circulation within the building, and numerous other factors. In …
Indoor air quality has many components, some of which are physical, others chemical, and a few biological. The most significant of these are briefly described below. The most important physical aspects of indoor air quality are air temperature and humidity. Air temperatures that are too warm or cool for human comfort can be caused by improper placement or adjustment of thermostats, and by an inabi…
The "sick building syndrome" exists. However, it has proven very difficult for scientists to characterize the causes, treatment, or human responses to the sick building syndrome. This is because of the extremely variable natures of both the exposures to environmental stressors in buildings, and the responses of individual people, a small fraction of whom appear to be hypersensitive t…
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