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Communication Dans Un Congrès Année : 2007

Indoor Air Quality in French Dwellings, National Survey 2003-2005

Résumé

Set up by the French authorities, the Observatory on Indoor Air Quality (OQAI) aims at collecting data on population exposure to pollutants in indoor environments (dwellings, schools, offices, etc.). Accordingly, OQAI undertook a national survey from 2003 to 2005 in order to assess the air quality inside the French dwellings. A large amount of information has been collected from 567 dwellings (1,612 individuals questioned), representative of the 24 millions dwellings in mainland France. This snapshot of indoor pollution, the first available reference on indoor air quality in French homes, focuses on more than 30 chemical (carbon monoxide, 20 volatile organic compounds), biological (cat, dog and dustmite allergens) and physical (particulate matter, radon activity, gamma radiation) variables, monitored over a one-week period in several rooms of each home, in attached garages and outdoor. The first results showed differences between the indoor and outdoor environments, with higher levels of pollutants indoors than outdoors, some compounds being present indoors but not outdoors. The majority of target compounds were found in most of the dwellings studied, reflecting the presence of numerous sources of indoor pollution (building materials, equipment, furniture, household cleaning products, human activities, outdoor environment, etc.) and the poor or satisfactory degree of ventilation. A minority of dwellings (around 10%) exhibited very high levels of several pollutants at the same time; by contrast, 45% of dwellings presented very low levels of all the pollutants measured. Furthermore, the distributions of the number of dwellings as a function of pollutant levels were usually highly asymmetric, with some dwellings presenting values higher by several orders of magnitude than the median levels observed throughout the housing stock. Attached garages had higher VOC levels than the dwellings themselves. Finally, house dust mites constitute the most frequent source of allergens. Pollutant levels are in agreement with previous localized studies and other national surveys. Variable percentages of dwellings exceeded the rare guideline levels that were comparable over the same periods of time measured, available in France or at an international level: a few percent for carbon monoxide, between a few percent and nearly 87% for formaldehyde (depending on the guidelines considered), and 50% for dust mite allergens.
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Dates et versions

hal-00701705 , version 1 (25-05-2012)

Identifiants

  • HAL Id : hal-00701705 , version 1

Citer

Olivier Ramalho, Séverine Kirchner. Indoor Air Quality in French Dwellings, National Survey 2003-2005. Monitoring Ambient Air 2007: The Importance of Indoor Air, Automation and Analytical Management Group, Royal Society of Chemistry, Dec 2007, London, United Kingdom. ⟨hal-00701705⟩

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