Indoor Air Quality in Two University Buildings- Occupants Perceptions and Microbial Concentrations

In the United States, indoor air pollution is increasingly becoming a threat to the health and well being of university students, faculty and staff. Not surprisingly, the Environmental Protection Agency lists poor indoor air quality as the fourth largest environmental threat to Americans. The present study was conducted to determine occupants' perceptions of indoor air quality, characterize levels of basic comfort parameters and determine total airborne levels of bioaerosols at two university academic buildings. A 20 item questionnaire modified from that previously developed by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health was used. Preliminary results showed that 49% of the study participants were dissatisfied with the indoor air quality. Commonly reported occupant concerns were fatigue, headache and nasal congestion as well as presence of molds, swings in temperature and inadequate ventilation. In addition, viable and non-viable bioaerosol samples were collected from 15 locations and analyzed at an AIHA-accredited laboratory. Data analysis is on-going, however, quantitative results of airborne samples showed that total fungal concentrations ranged from 702 - 2781 CFU/m3 in one building, and 439 - 1708 CFU/m3 in the second building. In many locations high background corrected counts of Aspergillus, Smuts, Cladosporium and Cercospora were also noted. The total viable indoor bioaerosol concentrations ranged from 7 - 136 CFU/m3 compared to 43 CFU/m3 outdoors. Based on the final results, a determination will be made as to whether any of the self-reported symptoms were associated with poor indoor air quality in the workplace.