Guidelines for a healthy indoor environment and impact on the acceptance of the actual situation

Health‐related guidelines for the indoor environment are given for very few chemicals. Guidelines for a “healthy indoor environment”; in the Netherlands are given for some compounds. They are in most cases derived from WHO guidelines for the general environment. Proposals for guidelines for concentrations in the indoor environment and emissions from indoor materials were presented at “Indoor Air ‘90”; in Toronto (Seifert, Mölhave, Tucker) and “Healthy Buildings IAQ ‘91”; in Washington (SCANVAC).

The results of concentration measurements in inhabited Dutch dwellings and office buildings and of emission measurements in the TNO walk‐in test chamber from building materials and products are discussed in the light of acceptance according to the different proposed guidelines for VOC and formaldehyde.

There are large differences in the outcome of the judgement according to the different criteria. There are very few buildings or materials meeting the most strict proposed guidelines.

Discussion on guidelines for the environment should be prolonged to come to general accepted limit values for a healthy indoor environmental, for which there is a great need.

Key Words:

• Indoor air
• indoor pollution
• guidelines
• emission
• concentration

Notes

TNO‐publication, P‐92–004.