Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
1.2.1 Materials
Part of the discomfort caused by VOCs in offices can be traced back to emissions
from building materials (Fanger et al.
1988
) and typical plastic finishes of appli-
ances (Kowalska and Gierczak
2012
). Even materials concealed behind finishing
materials can emit pollutants to the space (Hayashi and Osawa
2008
). Wood-based
panels have become notorious for emitting formaldehyde (Gminski et al.
2011
;Yu
and Kim
2012
). In addition to the release of their primary chemical compounds to
the space, ozone deposition on building materials can trigger an important release
of secondary pollutants (Lamble et al.
2011
; Toftum et al.
2008
). Desorption of
previously sorbed chemicals similar causes space surfaces to act as secondary
sources (Ongwandee and Sawanyapanich
2012
; Weschler and Nazaroff
2008
).
Stony materials and rock bed terrain are known sources of radon and are exten-
sively discussed in toxicity issues: radon''
State-of-the-art on Retrofit Strategies
In particular important for the residential context, mattresses have been shown
to be important sources of VOCs (Hillier et al.
2009
; Hoffmann and Schupp
2009
)
or SVOCs (Kemmlein et al.
2003
) and act incubators for house dust mites (Wu
et al.
2012
; Ucci et al.
2011
).
Typical for material emissions is that they show large initial source strengths,
decreasing over time (Marion et al.
2011
; Han et al.
2012
). The emissions from
building materials are not only dependent on the (chemical) composition of the
materials, but are also affected by the boundary conditions in the space, increasing
with temperature and especially relative humidity (Fang et al.
1999
; Lee and Kim
2012
; Wolkoff
1998
, Xu and Zhang).
Hygroscopic
materials,
especially
cellulose-based
ones,
are
prone
to
the
development
of fungi
in
long-lasting
high
humidity
conditions
(Haverinen-
Shaughnessy
2012
; Vereecken and Roels
2012
).
1.2.2 Activities
One of the most significant sources of a broad range of pollutants indoors is fire in
all its forms, be it tobacco smoking (Petrick et al.
2011
; Butz et al.
2011
), the use
of cooking (Buonanno et al.
2009
; Kabir and Kim
2011
; Wan et al.
2011
)or
heating (Schmidl et al.
2011
; Kinsey et al.
2012
) appliances or the burning of
candles and incense (Stabile et al.
2012
; Derudi et al.
2012
), all of them are
significant sources of particles, VOCs, nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide. In
developing countries, these activities are the primary sources of indoor pollution
and especially women are exposed to them (Carter et al.
2012
; Baumgartner et al.
2011
). Although emissions from combustion engines are usually considered out-
door sources, the tendency to have attached garages introduces typical gasoline-
related pollutants such as MTBE indoors (Hun et al.
2011
; Nirvan et al.
2012
).
In addition to the kitchen, the bathroom is a room where a lot of pollutant
producing activities are concentrated, ranging from bathroom use (odours) and
