Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Levels of gas and particle-phase substances present in the indoor air at non- industrial sites in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama; including offices, hospitals and restaurants, were measured dur ing 1993 and 1994. Samples collected at 40 sites were analysed for respirable suspended particles (RSP, d₅₀ <3.5 μm), ultraviolet RSP (UV-RSP) as a mark er for environmental tobacco smoke, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and nicotine. Levels of RSP were very high at several sites, varying within the ranges of 34-421 μg/m³ in restaurants, 21-242 μg/m³ in hospitals and 13- 196 μg/m³ in offices. Carbon monoxide levels were also high at several sites with peak concentrations reaching 29, 20, and 19 ppm, respectively, in an office, a hospital and a restaurant. Infiltration and penetration of outdoor pol lutants into the indoor environment occurred at all sites studied.

Keywords

Central America Respirable suspended particles Nicotine Carbon monoxide Carbon dioxide

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Smith QR : Assessing total exposure in developing-countries. Environment 1988;30:16-35.

Proctor CJ , Warren ND , Beavan Mhg : Environ Technol Lett 1989;10:1003.

Miesner EA , Rudnick SN , Hu FC , Spengler JD , Preller L. , Ozhaynak H. , Nelson W. : Particulate and nicotine sampling in public facilities and offices . J Air Pollut Control Assoc, 1989;39: 1577-1582.

Who : Air quality standards. Report of the WHO Commission on Health and Environment. Geneva, 1992.

Guerin M. : The chemistry of environmental tobacco smoke: Composition and measurement . London, Lewis, 1992.

Robertson G. : Indoor air quality guideline for Europe; in Lester JN , Perry R , Reynolds GL (eds): Quality of the Indoor Environment London, Selper, 1992.

Romiev I. , Weitzenfeld H. , Finkelman J. : Urban pollution in Latin America and the Caribbean: Health Perspectives . World Health Stat Q 1990;43:153-166.

Turner S. , Gross, RAJ: The measurement of environmental tobacco smoke in 585 office environments: A reply. Environ Int 1992;18:19-29.

Miguel AH , Aquino Neto FR , Cardoso JN , Vasconcellos PC , Pereira AS , Marquez KG : Characterization of indoor air quality in the cities of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Environ Sci Technol 1995 ;29:338-345.

10.

Daisey JM , Miguel AH , Andrade JB , Pereira Pap , Tanner RL : An overview of the Rio de Janeiro aerosol characterization study. J Air Pollut Control Assoc 1987 ;37:15-23.

11.

Offermann FJ , Loiselle SA , Daisey JM , Gundel LA , Hodgson AT : A pilot study to measure indoor concentrations of polycyclic aromatic compounds, Indoor Air '90, Proc 5th Int Conf Indoor Air Quality Climate; 1991, vol. 2, pp 379-384.

Characterisation of Indoor Air Quality in Large Urban Centres in Central America

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References