Indoor air最新文献

Buildings need practical ways to monitor indoor air quality (IAQ) beyond aggregate TVOC readings. We show that low-cost commercial VOC sensors, coupled with machine learning, can recover compound-specific information from plant-emitted terpenes, enabling practical, real-time bioindication in buildings. In an office testbed, we exposed sensors to 16 terpenes and trained random forest, support vector machine, and XGBoost models on time series features. The models detected “any terpene versus background” at 97%–100% accuracy, identified “plants versus background” at ~100%, and discriminated among individual compounds with accuracies up to 96%. Feature importance emphasized temporal dynamics (e.g., autocorrelation lags and entropy measures) rather than static peaks, highlighting the value of sequence information for commodity hardware. Complementary experiments with living basil plants showed reproducible VOC profiles and stress-induced bursts of ~70–100 ppb, confirming in situ feasibility. A placement analysis across 13 locations indicated that the HVAC return-air duct provides the most actionable, room-integrated signal for deployment, balancing accuracy and coverage. Together, these results establish a pathway from TVOC to compound-aware IAQ using sensors already common in smart buildings, with immediate applications to exposure triage and demand-controlled ventilation, and a foundation for plant-integrated environmental monitoring.

This study investigates windcatchers as sustainable ventilation solutions in architecture, addressing energy efficiency and reduced fossil fuel dependence. Traditional windcatchers, passive cooling devices, have been enhanced with sealed doors and windows to overcome earlier limitations. Focusing on dry climates, this research evaluates the performance of windcatchers in maintaining indoor comfort. Using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) through Comsol Multiphysics, factors like output velocity, pressure differential, and mass flow rate are assessed, with Hail City selected for testing. The study also examines the impact of inlet orientation on airflow dynamics, temperature, and humidity distribution within a building, comparing two cases: lateral inlet (Case 1) and top-side inlet (Case 2). Results show that Case 2 achieves higher velocities, particularly at the exit, where speeds are 3.5 times greater than in Case 1. Temperature distributions vary, with Case 1 demonstrating lower exit temperatures and Case 2 exhibiting reduced inlet temperatures. Humidity rises with inlet speed in both cases, more notably in Case 1. These findings highlight the importance of inlet orientation in enhancing airflow efficiency and optimizing environmental conditions, offering valuable insights for architects and engineers aiming to integrate sustainable design elements for improved indoor comfort and energy savings.

This study presents a comprehensive bibliometric review of research on ventilation and air quality in swimming pool facilities from 2001 to 2025. Based on literature retrieved from Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed, this study employs the CiteSpace visualization tool to analyze and shows that research has evolved from basic assessments of air exchange to multidimensional concerns including disinfection by-products (DBPs), pollutant exposure, thermal comfort, and energy efficiency. Despite these advances, significant gaps remain: most studies prioritize energy performance over detailed pollutant control, long-term high-resolution monitoring data are scarce, and ventilation standards often lack explicit criteria for swimmer health. Geographically, Canada, China, and the United States have led contributions in this field. The findings demonstrate a thematic transition from experience-based to precision control, supported by tools such as CFD, TRNSYS, and model predictive control, and signal growing potential for artificial intelligence and data-driven facility management. This review identifies core themes and technical trajectories, offering theoretical insight and decision-making support for the design and operation of low-carbon, health-oriented swimming pool environments.

A major objective of home energy efficiency upgrades is to reduce uncontrolled ventilation in order to reduce heat loss. Such reduction also affects concentrations of indoor pollutants by reducing the ingress of pollutants from the outdoor air and the egress of pollutants generated inside the home, which may lead to increased levels of indoor pollutants. In the absence of routine monitoring of the effect of home energy efficiency measures on air exchange, we develop a simple model of the relationship between indoor radon concentrations and dwelling air exchange and, for the first time, use population radon survey data for the United Kingdom to infer the impact of home energy efficiency improvements on home air infiltration. The model suggests that concentrations of radon rise steeply for quite modest reductions in air exchange, especially at low air exchange levels. We estimate that an increase in indoor radon of 10 Bq/m³ implies a mean reduction in air change rate of 0.22 air changes/h (ach), with 10th, 50th and 90th centiles of 0.03, 0.15 and 0.51 ach, respectively. Applying the model to observed data on current radon levels in UK homes with different levels of energy efficiency suggests a range of effects depending on the initial and final energy efficiency characteristics of the dwelling. For example, the maximum difference in indoor radon, between a typical UK home without any energy efficiency measures and one with wall insulation, glazing and loft insulation, is around 35 Bq/m³, which according to our model would correspond to a reduction in air change rate of 0.79 ach. The results suggest that current home energy efficiency measures may be associated with an appreciable decrease in air exchange in UK homes and that retrofit design principles may need to be re-evaluated to avoid embedding unintended adverse consequences for indoor air quality and health.

This study is aimed at comparing the presence of BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and o-xylene and m,p-xylene) and certain aldehydes (acetaldehyde and formaldehyde) in the residential environments of ALS patients (cases) and healthy individuals (controls). Moreover, a comparative analysis of indoor air pollutants in urban and rural areas to determine differences based on environment and housing type was performed, and the relationship between the presence of benzene and toluene in indoor air and the levels of their metabolites in the urine of the occupants was assessed. To this end, a cross-sectional, case-control, observational study was designed. Forty-three locations (13 cases, 28 controls, and 2 positive controls) and two negative controls were analyzed. Passive samplers were used to measure BTEX (Tenax) and aldehydes (Radiello). t,t-Muconic acid and hippuric acid levels (metabolites of benzene and toluene, respectively) were quantified in urine using liquid chromatography. The indoor air comparative analysis between cases and controls showed no statistically significant differences. Higher formaldehyde levels were found in urban indoor environments compared to rural ones (p < 0.001), based on the measurements from the 28 control subjects (analyzed separately as the case patients experienced changes in their daily routines due to their illness). Formaldehyde levels were also higher in apartment buildings than in detached houses (p = 0.007). Finally, in the analysis of biological samples, no association was found between the levels of benzene and toluene in the air and the levels of t,t-muconic acid and hippuric acid in urine.

Automotive technicians are exposed to lead during maintenance operations, and the associated risks remain unexplored. This study utilized the ghost wipe as a sampling medium to collect particulates on the wall surfaces from 12 automobile repair workshops. The measured lead deposition ranged from 15.2 ± 0.06 to 416.9 ± 83.13  μg/m². A linear correlation was observed between lead deposition and the number of repaired automotives. A lead deposition–air model was developed to estimate lead concentrations within automotive workshops. Three additional workshops were investigated, and the measured lead depositions of them are similar to the model′s prediction. Furthermore, the lead emission factor (C_c: 0.0625 μg/m³/car) was evaluated, and a risk model was developed based on C_c, employment duration, and annual number of repaired automotives. It was verified that wearing protective masks during maintenance operations and maintaining an acceptable air exchange rate can effectively reduce lead exposure. In summary, our study introduces the lead deposition–air model as a novel method for assessing occupational exposure in the context of particulate matter contamination.

Odor, as a component of the indoor environment, has a significant impact on occupant comfort. While pleasant odors have been studied extensively, less attention has been paid to unpleasant odors. At present, electroencephalography (EEG) testing has been found to reflect human comfort levels in different acoustic, lighting, and thermal environments. However, few studies have established a connection between odor-induced environmental comfort and brain activity. Therefore, this study investigated odor comfort vote (OCV) and examined the impact of odor stimuli on EEG activity. Two odors with differing pleasantness were studied: sweet orange and white vinegar. The results show that the global mean frequency F_g in the EEG is indicative of the comfort level associated with an odor environment. Specifically, F_g decreases under sweet orange odor, corresponding to a state of comfort, whereas it increases under white vinegar odor, corresponding to a state of discomfort. Additionally, the brain bands’ response to the two odors differs significantly, with sweet orange increasing activity in the α-, β-, and γ-bands, while white vinegar leads to a rise in the θ-band. The odors of sweet orange and white vinegar have a significant impact on the F_g of the P7 channel, with variation amplitudes of −27.13% and 26.94%, respectively. Therefore, the odor comfort can be judged by tracking the F_g changes of P7, which can reduce the workload of subsequent related studies. The findings of this study indicate that EEG can serve as an objective method for evaluating odor-induced environmental comfort and provide valuable insights for creating more comfortable indoor spaces.

Understanding the transmission dynamics of infectious diseases is crucial for developing effective mitigation strategies. This study employs the airborne disease model combined with the SEIR epidemic model to analyze disease spread in enclosed environments while accounting for key epidemiological and environmental factors. The model incorporates parameters such as infection rate (β), incubation rate (α), recovery rate (γ), air exchange rates (ACH), quanta generation rate (q), room volume (V), and pulmonary ventilation rate (p), alongside varying population sizes (N). By simulating different scenarios over a 50-day period, we assess the impact of initial infection conditions, recovery rates, and effective contact rates on epidemic progression. Our findings highlight the significant influence of ventilation and contact rates on disease spread, demonstrating that higher air exchange rates can mitigate transmission risks. The results provide critical insights into optimizing infection control strategies, particularly in indoor settings, by emphasizing the importance of air change rate, early interventions, and limiting contact rates.