Monitoring indoor air quality in the Czech Republic

This paper describes a pilot monitoring project which was started in the 4 largest cities in the Czech Republic in autumn 1994 with the aim of measuring the levels and finding the sources of pollutants in the dwellings of families with pre-school aged children. Questionnaires were distributed to parents of 1,200 children attending kindergartens, following which measurements were made in 120 flats over two time periods: November to March, and May to September. Air samples were taken in kitchens, children's bedrooms, and outdoors to determine concentrations of nitrogen oxides, formaldehyde, volatile organic compounds( both total and individual), bacteria and fungi; allergens in house dust samples were also determined. Results from the dwellings of a total of 4,452 persons showed that levels of all the chemical compounds determined were significantly higher indoors than outdoors. No indication was found that these levels related to acute health risk, however some individual findings should be considered as a warning. It was concluded that in about 12% of the households studied where at least one of the measured parameters was higher than recommended values there was a possible risk for the inhabitants of chronic respiratory diseases or related symptoms.