Indoor Air Quality at Work
Companies from Amazon to neighborhood businesses are returning to the office five days a week, and indoor air quality at work seems to be worse than ever. This is due to a range of factors, including an increase in climate-driven issues (such as wildfire smoke, auto and combustion exhaust, mold spores, dust) and ongoing concerns about the airborne spread of infections from the common cold to COVID-19.
The concerns are well founded.
Airborne health concerns
COVID-19 and other viruses are a known danger. Allergies can range from an annoyance to a life-restricting condition. But other ultrafine particles, including smog, smoke, and copier toner can also reach respiratory and circulatory systems, contributing to long-term health complications and diseases, including heart disease, cancer, and dementia.
There are other consequences of note: 20-plus years of academic and real-world studies make clear the direct association between poor indoor air quality, lower productivity, and worsened cognitive function. In one large study, poor ventilation was associated with a 53% increase in sick leave.
Daily news reports highlight growing outdoor air quality issues but little attention is given to the air we breathe indoors. We spend over 85% of our time inside where the air can be two to five times worse than outdoor air, with spikes to 100x worse. Poor indoor air quality is on the list of Top 5 concerns for the EPA.
Viruses
Bacteria
PM2.5
Ozone
Auto exhaust
Wildfire smoke
Environmental dust
Mold spores
Pollen
Combustion by-products
Microplastics
Dust mite waste
Cleaning products
Printer & copier toner
Asbestos
Coal & lead dust
3D Printing
What causes poor indoor air quality?
- If it’s a bad-air day outside, from pollution to wildfire smoke to other toxins, the same will hold true indoors due to infiltration from doors, windows, and leaky building envelopes.
- Pollutants outdoors can dissipate quickly into the atmosphere. Indoors, without effective air filtration, they concentrate instead.
- There may be additional indoor pollution sources inside including viruses and pathogens, microplastics, gas stove emissions, cleaning products, printer and copier toner, pet dander, mold, and dust mite waste.
Who is most at risk?
Children, older adults, and people with compromised immune systems due to disease or illness are at the highest risk, but anyone can be affected by poor IAQ, especially in locations such as these:
- High-density, open workspaces
- Classrooms and academic facility offices
- Lobbies, conference rooms, lunch and break rooms
- Congregate living (daycare, assisted living, nursing homes)
- Restaurants, cafes, theaters, gyms, yoga studios
- Medical professional offices and reception areas
- Anywhere with poor air quality (AQI)
What are health concerns?
Infectious aerosols, such as COVID-19 and seasonal influenza spread easily indoors. In addition, research has identified a strong link between breathing fine and ultrafine particles and health concerns including these:
- Viral and bacterial infections
- Inflammation
- Respiratory distress
- Allergies and asthma
- Lung and heart disease
- Cancers
- Cognitive function decline
- Lower student performance and test scores
- Reduced productivity and task completion
- Increased stress and sick days
There is a rapid solution to the IAQ problem
The CDC, the EPA, ASHRAE and the NIH all recommend the use of in-room air purifiers to close the HVAC clean air gap improve indoor air quality.
ASHRAE Standard 241 and Guideline 44
In June 2024, ASHRAE went one big step further. Specifically focusing on airborne infections, ASHRAE released Standard 241: Control of Infectious Aerosols, which provided guidance for managing periods of elevated infection risk indoors. Because providing conditioned (heated or cooled) outside air is expensive and requires high energy use, ASHRAE Standard 241 established a method to calculate the equivalent clean airflow that can safely be provided by alternate air purification methods, notably from ASHRAE Standard 241 compliant in-room air cleaners.
While Standard 241 is focused on infectious aerosols, it can be applied to a much wider range of similarly sized, fine and ultrafine indoor air pollutants, with the same recommendation: use of ASHRAE Standard 241 compliant in-room air cleaners. To this end, in late 2024, ASHRAE added specific guidance for mitigation of wildfire smoke.
You care about indoor air. We do, too.
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