Indoor Air Pollutant Standards and Potential Impact on Human Health due to Poor Indoor Air Quality in Indian Context

Abstract

Human being spent their substantial part of life living indoor. Thus the quality of indoor environment becomes significant to consider in terms of purity of air available for breathing and other parameters i.e. building design, Heating, ventilation, and air Conditioning systems (HVAC), rugs & carpets, paints & polishing, household cleaning appliances, aerosols, insecticides, pesticides, and personal care products & devices, etc. which generates potentially harmful by-products and contributes to indoor environment deterioration directly. Better indoor environment is subject to the quality of thermal comfort i.e. Relative Humidity and Temperature, and the air quality (concentrations of pollutants) inside the buildings. Indoor air quality pertains to the purity of inside air within the building that is essential requirement and equivalent for human comfort. In this article, focus on “required indoor air quality” (RIAQ) as per human comfort, and Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) standards for various indoor air pollutants along with impacts of major indoor pollutants like CO2, Formaldehyde, Radon, and volatile organic compounds, etc in indoor air and on human health have been reported. From literature survey it has been observed that the indoor air quality standards are not available for most indoor air pollutants. Thus, from different research outcomes, and government directories the indoor air pollutant standards are tabulated and presented for a quick understanding & its availability for their permissible limits.