Investigations of Ventilation, Smoking Activity, and Indoor Air Quality at Four Large Office Buildings
Oldaker, GB; Taylor, WD; Parrish, KB
A study of relationships between ventilation rate, smoking activity, and indoor air quality (IAQ) in four large office buildings was conducted. The study buildings consisted of 22 and 16 floor buildings having 680 and 1,400 occupants where unrestricted smoking was allowed (unrestricted buildings) and 12 and 10 floor buildings having 1,433 and 1,000 occupants where smoking was restricted to lounges from which the air was exhausted directly to the outside (restricted buildings). None of the buildings had ever had any IAQ problems. The heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems were inspected and evaluated. Environmental and breathing zone samples were collected and analyzed for respirable suspended particulates (RSPs), environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), nicotine (54115), ultrafine particles, formaldehyde (50000), other volatile organic compounds (VOCs), carbon-dioxide (124389), and carbon-monoxide (630080). Selected occupants in the unrestricted buildings completed a questionnaire to obtain information on smoking habits and possible symptoms related to poor IAQ experienced during the past 3 months. All HVAC systems were found to be adequately designed, operated and maintained, and provided air flow rates that conformed to the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers standard 62-1989 (ASHRAE standard). The overall prevalence of smokers in the unrestricted buildings was 34%. Twenty four of 38 air pollutants sampled had concentrations below the limit of detection. In most cases, their concentrations did not differ between the unrestricted and restricted buildings. The concentrations of nicotine, RSPs, and ethylbenzene (100414) were higher in the unrestricted building. All air pollutant concentrations were below the relevant standards. The prevalence of symptoms such as eye irritation, nasal congestion, and cough among occupants of the unrestricted building ranged from 1.7 to 19.0%. The authors conclude that in buildings in which the HVAC systems meet the ASHRAE standard, all indicators were below applicable standards, regardless of smoking policy. A transcript of a discussion session following presentation of this paper was provided.