Exposure Guidelines for Residential Indoor Air Quality

Acknowledgements - Preface

Acknowledgements

The members of the Federal-Provincial Working Group on Indoor Air Quality and Subcommittee on Radiation Surveillance wish to acknowledge the assistance of the following organizations, government agencies and individuals in preparing these guidelines.

The work of the following staff of the Environmental Health Directorate, Department of National Health and Welfare who, as members of the technical secretariat to the Working Group, were responsible for developing the scientific criteria in support of the guidelines and recommendations, is especially appreciated: Ms. T. Arbuckle, Mr. A. Atkinson, Dr. J.A. Buccini, Mr. N. Collishaw, Dr. R.S. Eaton, Mr. G. Garneys, Dr. J.W.S. Jamieson, Ms. M.E. Meek, Mr. R.G. McGregor, Mrs. J. Sitwell, Dr. R. Tobin and Mrs. G. Wood. Evaluation of some of the toxicological and epidemiological data was carried out by Dr. A. Gilman, Mr. J. Harrison, Mr. K. Mancuso, Dr. R. Morris, Mr. R. Paolini, Mr. M. Raizenne, Dr. J. Ruddick and Dr. G.S. Wiberg.*

Some of the literature retrieval and evaluation and the preparation of preliminary drafts of the supporting documentation was conducted through contracts with the following consultants: B.C. Research, Concord Scientific Corporation and T.D.S. Limited; these guidelines and the supporting documentation were edited by Dr. J.M. Park of Michael Holliday and Associates.

Many federal and provincial agencies supplied valuable information, including unpublished data and literature references, as well as constructive criticism and helpful suggestions. Officials of some of these organizations participated at meetings of the Working Group. The assistance and advice of Mr. P. Russell (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation), Dr. M. Brownstein (Department of Consumer and Corporate Affairs), Dr. D. Walkinshaw (Division of Building Research, National Research Council of Canada) and Mr. C.E. Duncan (Ontario Ministry of the Environment) were especially appreciated.

*Deceased.

Preface

It is now recognized that non-industrial indoor environments can contribute significantly to human exposure to airborne pollutants. This is particularly true in countries such as Canada where long cold winters and hot summers result in considerable periods of time being spent in climate-controlled buildings. Also, within the past few years, incentives have been given to reduce the consumption of energy, particularly oil, in buildings by reducing the rate of air exchange, installing additional insulation and using alternative sources of energy. Such measures are likely to raise the concentrations of some contaminants in indoor air above those found in outdoor air and so have aroused the concerns of public health authorities, those concerned with building standards and home construction, and the general public. In April 1979, the World Health Organization convened a meeting of experts to discuss the health aspects of indoor air quality. This group recommended that health authorities draw up guidelines for indoor concentrations of air contaminants to protect the health of occupants of homes.

In June 1980, the Ontario Deputy Minister of Health requested that a federal-provincial study be undertaken to establish standards for air quality in new housing. A proposal to convene a Working Group on Indoor Air Quality was formally tabled at the October 1980 meeting of the Federal-Provincial Advisory Committee on Environmental and Occupational Health and subsequently agreed to by the Deputy Ministers of Health.

The Federal-Provincial Working Group on Indoor Air Quality was requested by the Advisory Committee to consider "a definition of acceptable air quality", the need for "objective and/or maximum acceptable concentrations for specified substances" and a "specification of ventilation rates, or recirculation criteria". The scope of the work was to be restricted to "domestic premises" and recommendations were to be developed to protect the general public assuming exposure for 24 hours per day (i.e., continuous).

The Working Group met for the first time in September 1981. During the subsequent four years, the scientific literature on 17 substances, or groups of substances, was collected and reviewed to arrive at the guidelines and recommendations made in this document. The Working Group on Indoor Air Quality did not develop the recommendation for radon. Because of the specialized knowledge required to review radioactive substances, radon was referred to the Federal-Provincial Subcommittee on Radiation Surveillance. A guideline for radon is also included in Section 4 of this report, for a total of 18 substances.

It is anticipated that these guidelines will provide a reference point against which the adequacy of residential indoor air quality and remedial measures can be judged.