Indoor Air Quality: The Invisible Hazard in Every Workplace

Over the past decade, indoor air quality (IAQ), has become an important health and safety concern. In fact, the Environmental Protection Agency has ranked poor IAQ as one of the top environmental risks to public health. It's invisible and largely unnoticeable, but it's more dangerous than many people realize; whether you're working on a manufacturing floor or in an office building, the quality of indoor air can be up to 100 times more polluted than outdoor air (learn the Difference Between Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gas Emissions). Further, studies conducted by the American Heart Association and American Lung Association, have linked heart-related diseases and lung cancers to poor air quality.

So, What Is Indoor Air Quality Anyway?

Indoor air quality refers to the quality of air within a building, and it is an issue that is often left neglected. Poor IAQ is a major source of health problems and discomfort for both employees and employers. In the health and safety industry, this is referred to as "sick building syndrome" (download the Is Your Office Making You Sick? infographic for more information).

The following are signs that you may be working in a building with poor IAQ:

• The presence of unpleasant or musty odors
• Physical discomfort caused by intolerable temperatures and humidity
• Employees may complain about symptoms that are experienced only at work, such as headaches and exhaustion

There is no specific test for indoor air quality, but if you suspect that your workplace might have a problem, checking the ventilation and HVAC systems to ensure they're working properly and looking for water damage, mold, and bad odors may be a good place to start (learn more in Indoor Air Quality: 7 Basic Questions about Moulds).

Industries Where IAQ Is a Well-recognized Problem

IAQ has been identified as a major issue across two out of the four industrial sectors: secondary and tertiary. The secondary sector of industry involves manufacturing, where raw materials are converted into products at large factories. Consequently, there is an increase in pollutant-generating activities that negatively impact IAQ.

The tertiary sector of industry is concerned with services such as health care, hospitality, education, and professional services. IAQ is a well-recognized problem in this sector of industry because of:

• The high density of people in relatively small areas
  Occupancy rates for buildings in these industries are often higher than the designed ventilation rates, which results in the poor dilution or removal of pollutants.
• Increased inter-personal contact
  This provides a greater opportunity for the transmission of flu or viruses and other communicable diseases.
• The potential increase in moisture
  The presence of more plumbing fixtures and HVAC units can lead to moisture management problems, thus increasing the growth of molds and mildew. Some of these can be a hazard to human health.

What Are the Hazards?

The primary sources of indoor air quality problems fall into three basic categories: physical, chemical, and biological.

• Physical IAQ Hazards : These include improper temperature and humidity levels, as well as inadequate ventilation techniques.
• Chemical IAQ Hazards: These include hazardous dusts and fibers such as asbestos; odors from building materials and occupants; volatile organic compounds and other pollutants emitted from furniture, equipment, and construction materials; carbon dioxide exhaled from building occupants; carbon monoxide from furnaces inside workplaces, as well as vehicle exhaust and tobacco smoke from outside workplaces; pesticides, insecticides, and rodent-control products; solvents such as benzene and toluene in cleaning-products, copier toners and paints; ozone from photocopiers, electric motors, and electrostatic air cleaners; and radon from naturally occurring radioactivity in minerals and soils found around the workplace.
• Biological IAQ Hazards: These include toxic molds that grow on building materials that have accumulated moisture such as wood, upholstery, ceiling tiles, and carpet; bacterial diseases such as Legionnaire’s disease, Pontiac fever and humidifier fever (learn about Legionella The Killer in Your Tap); dust mites and pollens that can cause allergic reactions; and biological aerosols that do not get filtered out of indoor air as a result of poor HVAC maintenance.

The hazards mentioned above can result in eye, nose, and throat irritation; dry mucous membranes; skin rashes; mental fatigue, headache, and sleepiness; respiratory infections, nausea, and dizziness, and unspecified hypersensitivity reactions.

Improving IAQ

The following solutions can be implemented by management for the purpose of improving the quality of air in the workplace and ensuring the health and safety of employees:

• Eliminate sources of contamination
  Perform all operations, maintenance, and construction activities in a manner that minimizes employees’ exposure to airborne contaminants (learn The Difference Between Pollutants and Contaminants). Also, avoid the use of potentially hazardous materials, such as wall-to-wall synthetic carpet.
• Substitute for less dangerous materials
  For instance, choose furniture made from solid wood, ground coverings made from natural fibers, and cleaning products and pest control methods that are non-toxic or biodegradable.
• Isolate machinery
  Isolate machines that release toxic fumes from occupied workspaces and air intakes, such as large copy machines.
• Ventilation improvements
  Increase the outdoor airflow into the building. This can be achieved by opening windows (to allow natural ventilation), implementing ventilation systems in accordance with IAQ ventilation standards and scheduling regular maintenance checks for all HVAC systems. Also, it is important to ensure that high moisture areas are well ventilated to inhibit mold and mildew growth.
• Good housekeeping practices
  Clean occupied workspaces regularly to remove dust, dirt and particulates that build up indoors. Also, maintain sanitary mechanical equipment and building surfaces.
• Use of personal protective equipment
  Provide employees with the appropriate respiratory equipment in cases where the source of contamination cannot be completely removed.
• Monitoring and Evaluation
  Carry out frequent inspections to identify indoor air quality hazards, and incorporate IAQ issues on the health and safety committee agenda. Report all IAQ hazards that are identified and ensure that major sources of contamination are promptly controlled.

Breathe Easy

Each work environment has unique contributors to air quality. For employees, poor indoor air quality can affect work performance and productivity - and put their well-being at risk.

Employers have a responsibility to ensure a safe and healthy work environment. IAQ may not seem like a pressing occupational hazard, but it can have a major impact on illness and absenteeism, not to mention some of the more serious health problems that can come with highly contaminated air. Maintaining good IAQ can help everyone breath easy.

For all things Respiratory Protection, check out our Respiratory Protection Knowledge Center.