Article | REF: G1512 V2

Indoor Air Quality : landmarks and legal framework - Dwellings, public access buildings and tertiary buildings

Author: Cécile CAUDRON

Publication date: January 10, 2021

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ABSTRACT

Outdoor air pollution is a growing worldwide issue and is more and more publicized in France. Indoor air pollution is a more recent and still growing concern. Our lifestyles lead us to live in confined spaces most of our time, while the effects on health of poor air quality can range from simple discomfort to the development of pathologies that can be serious or worth: lethal. In the workplaces, in dwellings or in public access buildings, the airing and ventilation rules must be observed. In some of the public access buildings, an indoor air quality monitoring is underway.

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AUTHOR

  • Cécile CAUDRON: State Public Works Engineer - Head of Indoor Air Quality at Cerema - With the support of the Ministère de la Transition écologique et solidaire.

 INTRODUCTION

In industrialized countries, and particularly in France, we spend an average of 80% of our time indoors, whether in our homes, workplaces, schools, leisure facilities or means of transport (car, bus, metro, train, plane, etc.). This average rises to 95% for young children, a population that is particularly sensitive to air pollution. In fact, a newborn takes an average of 40 breaths a minute, compared with 16 for an adult. Proportionally, a child breathes more than an adult and can absorb twice as many pollutants, even though its nervous and immune systems are immature.

While outdoor air quality –, or atmospheric quality, or ambient air quality –, has a binding regulatory framework and a structured monitoring system, with quantified targets that are increasingly publicized when exceeded, this is not the case for indoor air quality, where the regulatory framework remains less restrictive and more fragmented, despite developments over the last five years.

However, the effects of poor indoor air quality are not trivial, and can range from simple discomfort to health-related effects. The latter can range from mild discomfort (odors, skin and eye irritation, headaches, drowsiness) to more serious pathologies, from respiratory allergies such as asthma, to the development of cancer.

In our homes, public buildings and workplaces, indoor air quality is a real public health issue, and a growing concern for public authorities. Since the 2000s, the Observatoire de la qualité de l'air intérieur (OQAI) has carried out a number of campaigns in places frequented by young children, homes and tertiary buildings, and has thereby contributed to a better understanding of the substances, agents and situations affecting indoor air quality in existing housing stock, and of people's exposure levels. This work, coupled with that of the Agence nationale de sécurité sanitaire de l'alimentation, de l'environnement et du travail (ANSES), among others, has gradually led to the regulatory definition of guide values for certain substances.

The quality of working atmospheres is also a major concern, closely linked to the prevention of risks to which workers are exposed. Establishments governed by the French Labor Code must comply with ventilation and aeration regulations, described in a forthcoming article [G 1 513] . General regulations apply to enclosed premises where employees are required to stay, and to all places where employees...

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