title: Assessment of indoor air quality in office buildings across Europe - The OFFICAIR study.
abstract: The European project OFFICAIR aimed to broaden the existing knowledge regarding indoor air quality (IAQ) in modern office buildings, i.e., recently built or refurbished buildings. Thirty-seven office buildings participated in the summer campaign (2012), and thirty-five participated in the winter campaign (2012-2013). Four rooms were investigated per building. The target pollutants were twelve volatile organic compounds, seven aldehydes, ozone, nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter <2.5μm (PM2.5). Compared to other studies in office buildings, the benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene concentrations were lower in OFFICAIR buildings, while the α-pinene and d-limonene concentrations were higher, and the aldehyde, nitrogen dioxide and PM2.5concentrations were of the same order of magnitude. When comparing summer and winter, significantly higher concentrations were measured in summer for formaldehyde and ozone, and in winter for benzene, α-pinene, d-limonene, and nitrogen dioxide. The terpene and 2-ethylhexanol concentrations showed heterogeneity within buildings regardless of the season. Considering the average of the summer and winter concentrations, the acetaldehyde and hexanal concentrations tended to increase by 4-5% on average with every floor level increase, and the nitrogen dioxide concentration tended to decrease by 3% on average with every floor level increase. A preliminary evaluation of IAQ in terms of potential irritative and respiratory health effects was performed. The 5-day median and maximum indoor air concentrations of formaldehyde and ozone did not exceed their respective WHO air quality guidelines, and those of acrolein, α-pinene, and d-limonene were lower than their estimated thresholds for irritative and respiratory effects. PM2.5indoor concentrations were higher than the 24-h and annual WHO ambient air quality guidelines.
authors.affiliation: Scientific and Technical Centre for Building (CSTB), Marne-la-Vallée, France. Electronic address: corinne.mandin@cstb.fr.
authors.forename: Corinne
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mandin
authors.affiliation: University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Marilena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Trantallidi
authors.affiliation: Università degli Studi dell'Insubria, Como, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cattaneo
authors.affiliation: Scientific and Technical Centre for Building (CSTB), Marne-la-Vallée, France.
authors.forename: Nuno
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Canha
authors.affiliation: Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Victor G
authors.initials: VG
authors.lastname: Mihucz
authors.affiliation: Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Tamás
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Szigeti
authors.affiliation: National Research Council, Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Rosanna
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mabilia
authors.affiliation: National Research Council, Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Erica
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Perreca
authors.affiliation: Università degli Studi dell'Insubria, Como, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Spinazzè
authors.affiliation: University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Serena
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fossati
authors.affiliation: The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), Delft, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Yvonne
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: De Kluizenaar
authors.affiliation: The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), Delft, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cornelissen
authors.affiliation: University of Western Macedonia, Kozani, Greece.
authors.forename: Ioannis
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sakellaris
authors.affiliation: University of Western Macedonia, Kozani, Greece.
authors.forename: Dikaia
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Saraga
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Kuopio, Finland.
authors.forename: Otto
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Hänninen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Science and Innovation in Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Management (INEGI), Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: De Oliveira Fernandes
authors.affiliation: Institute of Science and Innovation in Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Management (INEGI), Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Gabriela
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ventura
authors.affiliation: National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Peder
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wolkoff
authors.affiliation: University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Carrer
authors.affiliation: University of Western Macedonia, Kozani, Greece.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bartzis
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000032:analysis* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005060:Europe; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000032:analysis; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D052638:Particulate Matter; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds
keywords: IAQ; Particulate matter; Seasonal variability; Spatial variability; Terpene; VOC