title: Implementation of the indoor air component of cycle 2 of the Canadian Health Measures Survey.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The presence of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in indoor air may have negative health consequences, ranging from mild irritation to more severe illnesses. Indoor air data are required to assess Canadian population exposure to these VOCs.
  
  
  METHODS
  The 2009 to 2011 Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS) included an indoor air component. Respondents who went to the mobile examination centre to participate in the physical measures section of the survey were asked to deploy an indoor air sampler in their homes for 7 consecutive days. Data were collected for 84 VOCs. Control samples that were implemented included duplicates and blanks.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 4,686 indoor air samplers given to CHMS respondents, 4,581 were deployed and returned to the testing laboratory. Data from 3,857 samplers met the criteria for inclusion in the CHMS indoor air data files. Thirteen VOCs had a mean percentage difference between the duplicate pairs greater than 30%. The field and cleaning blank geometric means and medians were lower than 1 μg/m³ for 83 VOCs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The high percentage of mobile examination centre participants who deployed samplers in their homes, the sampler return rate, and the quality of the data obtained demonstrate the feasibility of relying on respondents to handle indoor air samplers for large-scale collection of residential VOC data.
authors.affiliation: Health Statistics Division, Statistics Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0T6. jennifer.patry-parisien@statcan.gc.ca
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Patry-Parisien
authors.forename: Suzy L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Jiping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants; D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor; D002170:Canada; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds
keywords: air pollution; air quality; data collection; indoor air sampler; organic chemicals; survey methods; volatile organic compounds