Associations of indoor carbon dioxide concentrations,air temperature,and humidity with perceived air quality and sick building syndrome symptoms in Chinese homes |
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| Authors: | Jing Hou Yuexia Sun Xilei Dai Junjie Liu Xiong Shen Hongwei Tan Haiguo Yin Kailiang Huang Yao Gao Dayi Lai Weiping Hong Xinping Zhai Dan Norbäck Qingyan Chen |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Tianjin Key Lab. of Indoor Air Environmental Quality Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China;2. School of Mechanical Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, China;3. School of Building Services Science and Engineering, Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China;4. Department of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, Shenyang Jianzhu University, Shenyang, China;5. Shenzhen Institute of Building Research Co., Ltd, Shenzhen, China;6. Department of Medical Sciences, Uppsala University and University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden;7. School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA |
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| Abstract: | The indoor environment influences occupants’ health. From March 1, 2018, to February 28, 2019, we continuously monitored indoor temperature (T), relative humidity (RH), and CO2 concentration in bedrooms via an online system in 165 residences that covered all five climate zones of China. Meanwhile, we asked one specific occupant in each home to complete questionnaires about perceived air quality and sick building syndrome (SBS) symptoms at the end of each month. Higher CO2 concentration was significantly associated with a higher percentage of perceived stuffy odor and skin SBS symptoms. Higher relative humidity was associated with higher percentage of perceived moldy odor and humid air, while lower RH was associated with a higher percentage of perceived dry air. Occupants who lived in residences with high RH were less likely to have mucosal and skin SBS symptoms (adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 0.73–0.78). However, the benefit of high humidity for perceived dry air and skin dryness symptoms is weaker if there is a high CO2 concentration level. |
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| Keywords: | CO2 home odors perceived dry air relative humidity sick building syndrome |
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