CLIMATE CHANGE AND INDOOR AIR QUALITY
Contractor Report
Prepared for:
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Radiation and Indoor Air
by
R. Wiliam Field, PHD, MS
Professor
Department of Occupational and Environmental Health
Department of Epidemiology
College of Public Health
University of Iowa
2010
This report presents the findings, recommendations and views of its author and not
necessarily those of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
INTRODUCTION
When it comes to climate change, the only certainty is uncertainty. As pointed out by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), there are many speculative predictions about the timing, magnitude, and patterns of climate change. Nonetheless, the IPCC (2007) states that warming of the climate system is indisputable and based on current practices green house gas emissions are expected to grow. Ebi et al. (2008) noted that the impact of climate change will vary on a regional basis in the United States. It follows that the impacts of climate change on indoor air will also vary by region. The indoor air of homes, as well as other built structures, is often directly, or indirectly, affected by environmental conditions outside the structure. Since adults, as well as children, spend the majority of their time indoors (Klepeis et al. 2001; Field et al. 1998; Wiley et al. 1991), concentrations of pollutants within a home significantly contribute to overall exposures. Indoor air quality often reflects outdoor air quality. In addition, indoor air quality will also be impacted indirectly by changes in the occupant’s behavior (as the occupant adapts to climate change) that will affect the production and persistence of pollutants (e.g., carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides, aldehydes, lead, volatile organic compounds, semivolatile organic compounds, biological pollutants, etc.) generated within the home or building. For example, behavioral changes that reduce air exchange rates, such as the use of a room air conditioner in a home with low air exchange rates, often results in higher concentrations of indoor air pollutants than what exists outdoors.
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