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NIOSH Testimony on Indoor Air Quality Before the Subcommittee on Natural Resources, Agriculture Research, and Environment Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives by P. J. Bierbaum, September 27, 1989.

PB90193822

Publication Date	1989
Page Count	28
Abstract	Testimony considered the activities of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in the area of indoor air quality. Energy conservation concerns in the 1970s forced the construction of buildings with the key element being preventing infiltration of untempered outside air. Many buildings were effectively sealed against air entry. Requests for health hazard evaluations due to a suspected poor quality of indoor air have increased dramatically in recent years. Indoor air quality problems may arise from a variety of sources including human metabolic activity, smoking, structural components of the building and contents, biological contamination, office and mechanical equipment, and outside air pollutants that enter the building. Many times the symptoms and health complaints reported by workers were diverse and not specific enough to readily identify the causative agent. The results from the health hazard evaluations have enabled NIOSH to classify the findings by primary type of problem: contamination from the building materials, 4%; microbial contamination, 5%; other contamination from inside the building, 15%; contamination from outside the building, 10%; inadequate ventilation, 53%; and unknown, 13%. Ergonomic and psychosocial issues often complicated the findings.
Keywords	Air pollution Industrial medicine Buildings Environmental surveys Ventilation Exposure Inspection Hazardous materials Sick building syndrome Indoor air pollution Occupational safety and health Toxic substances Air pollution monitoring Work environments Testimony Air quality
Source Agency	National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
NTIS Subject Category	68A - Air Pollution & Control 68G - Environmental Health & Safety 57U - Public Health & Industrial Medicine 94D - Job Environment 41I - Job Environment
Corporate Authors	National Inst. for Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, OH.
Document Type	Technical Report
NTIS Issue Number	199012

NIOSH Testimony on Indoor Air Quality Before the Subcommittee on Natural Resources, Agriculture Research, and Environment Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives by P. J. Bierbaum, September 27, 1989.

NIOSH Testimony on Indoor Air Quality Before the Subcommittee on Natural Resources, Agriculture Research, and Environment Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives by P. J. Bierbaum, September 27, 1989.
PB90193822

Publication Date	1989
Page Count	28
Abstract	Testimony considered the activities of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in the area of indoor air quality. Energy conservation concerns in the 1970s forced the construction of buildings with the key element being preventing infiltration of untempered outside air. Many buildings were effectively sealed against air entry. Requests for health hazard evaluations due to a suspected poor quality of indoor air have increased dramatically in recent years. Indoor air quality problems may arise from a variety of sources including human metabolic activity, smoking, structural components of the building and contents, biological contamination, office and mechanical equipment, and outside air pollutants that enter the building. Many times the symptoms and health complaints reported by workers were diverse and not specific enough to readily identify the causative agent. The results from the health hazard evaluations have enabled NIOSH to classify the findings by primary type of problem: contamination from the building materials, 4%; microbial contamination, 5%; other contamination from inside the building, 15%; contamination from outside the building, 10%; inadequate ventilation, 53%; and unknown, 13%. Ergonomic and psychosocial issues often complicated the findings.
Keywords	Air pollution Industrial medicine Buildings Environmental surveys Ventilation Exposure Inspection Hazardous materials Sick building syndrome Indoor air pollution Occupational safety and health Toxic substances Air pollution monitoring Work environments Testimony Air quality
Source Agency	National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
NTIS Subject Category	68A - Air Pollution & Control 68G - Environmental Health & Safety 57U - Public Health & Industrial Medicine 94D - Job Environment 41I - Job Environment
Corporate Authors	National Inst. for Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, OH.
Document Type	Technical Report
NTIS Issue Number	199012