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"Indoor Environmental Quality," as the name implies, simply refers
to the quality of the air in an office or other building environment.
"Sick Building Syndrome" is a term many people use to convey
a wide range of symptoms they believe can be attributed to the building
itself. Workers typically implicate the workplace environment because
their symptoms are alleviated when they leave the office.
Indoor environmental contaminants can originate within the building or
be drawn in from outdoors. If contaminant concentrations are excessive,
IEQ problems can arise, even if the HVAC system is properly designed and
well-maintained. NIOSH investigators have found IEQ problems caused by
ventilation system deficiencies, overcrowding, offgassing from materials
in the office and mechanical equipment, tobacco smoke, microbiological
contamination, and outside air pollutants.
Maintaining a healthy and comfortable indoor environment in any building
requires integrating many components of a complex system. Indoor environment
problems are preventable and solvable and practical guidance on how to
manage your building for good indoor environmental quality is available.
NIOSHTIC-2 Search
NIOSHTIC-2
search results on Indoor Environmental Quality
NIOSHTIC-2
search results on IEQ and Mold
 is
a searchable bibliographic database of occupational safety and health
publications, documents, grant reports, and journal articles supported
in whole or in part by NIOSH.
Building Air Quality
Building Air Quality Action Plan
DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 98-123 (June 1998)
The Building Air Quality Action Plan is intended to be used in concert
with the more comprehensive Building Air Quality: A Guide for Building
Owners and Facility Managers (BAQ). (See below.) This resource meets the
needs of building owners and managers who want an easy-to-understand path
for taking their building from current conditions and practices to the
successful institutionalization of good IEQ management practices.
Building Air Quality: A Guide for
Building Owners and Facility Managers
DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 91-114 (December 1991)
In recognition of the need for practical indoor air quality advice for
building owners and facility managers, EPA and NIOSH worked jointly to
produce this written guidance on preventing, identifying, and correcting
indoor air quality problems.
Indoor Environmental Quality
(June 1997)
En
Español
Fact sheet with questions and answers about indoor environmental quality.
Health Hazard Evaluations
NIOSH conducts investigations of possible health hazards in the workplace.
These investigations, called Health Hazard Evaluations (HHEs), are conducted
under the authority of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970
and the authority of the Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, which authorize
the Secretary of Health and Human Services, following a written request
from employees, authorized representative of employees, or employers,
to determine whether any substance normally found in the place of employment
has potentially toxic effects in such concentrations as used or found.
Some recent HHE reports related to indoor air quality have been listed
below, but for a comprehensive listing, please search the HHE
Database.
- Health Hazard Evaluation Report, HETA- 2001-0067-2896, Somerset
County Assistance Office, Somerset, PA.
 PDF
only 1.65 MB (121 pages)
- Health Hazard Evaluation Report, HETA-2001-0109-2835, Lac
Vieux Desert Resort and Casino, Watersmeet, Michigan PDF
only 991 KB (28 pages)
- Health Hazard Evaluation Report, HETA-2000-0168-2871, Nassau
Community College, Garden City, New York PDF
only 875 KB (62 pages)
- Health Hazard Evaluation Report, HETA-2000-0091-2803, Horry
County Assessor's Office, Conway, South Carolina PDF
only 502 KB (24 pages)
- Health Hazard Evaluation Report, HETA-2000-0268-2812, Southwest
Airlines - San Antonio Reservations Center, San Antonio, Texas PDF
only 374 KB (41 pages)
- Health Hazard Evaluation Report, HETA-2000-0283-2823, Rehabilitation
Services Commission, Columbus, Ohio PDF
only 342 KB (22 pages)
- Health Hazard Evaluation Report, HETA-2000-0176-2829, The
Centre for Well-Being at The Phoenician Resort, Scottsdale, Arizona
PDF
only 282 KB (27 pages)
Other NIOSH Resources and Topics
Asbestos Bibliography
DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 97-162 (September 1997) 8252 KB (224 pages)
This publication is a compendium of NIOSH research and recommendations
on asbestos. It updates and supercedes the NIOSH document Asbestos Publications
dated June 1992.
Guidance for Filtration
and Air-Cleaning Systems to Protect Building Environments
from Airborne Chemical, Biological, or Radiological Attacks
DHHS (NIOSH) Pub No. 2003-136
Provides preventive measures that building owners and managers can implement
to protect building air environments from a terrorist release of chemical,
biological, or radiological contaminants.
Guidance for Protecting
Building Environments from Airborne Chemical, Biological, or Radiological
Attacks
DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2002-139 (May 2002) 841 KB (40 pages)
This document identifies actions that a building owner or manager can
implement without undue delay to enhance occupant protection from an airborne
chemical, biological, or radiological attack. Includes information about:
what you can do; specific recommendations; things not to do; physical
security; ventilation and filtration; maintenance, administration, and
training.
National
Occupational Research Agenda - Indoor Environment
The goal of the NORA Indoor Environment (IE) Team is to focus
and facilitate research, through broadly based multi-sector partnerships,
that will improve the health of workers in indoor environments.
Related NIOSH Topic Pages
Hazard Controls
HCs are brief 1-2 page, user-friendly documents that describe control
techniques documented to substantially reduce hazardous exposures to workers
in a particular application/industry process.
Respiratory Questionnaires
Includes Questionnaire from Round 4 of the National Study of
Coal Workers' Pneumoconiosis, American Thoracic Society 1978 Adult Questionnaire,
NIOSH Indoor Air Quality and Work Environment Symptoms Survey, and Initial
Questionnaireof the NIOSH Occupational Asthma Identification Project
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NIOSH
IEQ Resources