Summaries of the Latest Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) and Covid Research  

Research Summaries

Elevated PM2.5 levels indoors can detrimentally affect cognitive performance, even during short-term exposure. Building and Environment

Mold inhalation can interfere with cognitive processing in different ways depending on the task and the presence of mycotoxins. Behavioural Brain Research

Residential renovation and buying new furniture in prenatal and postnatal periods consistently increased odds of childhood airway diseases and allergies. Building and Environment

Of 88 published studies that evaluated the indoor environment of schools, only 4 studies evaluated the four main areas of IEQ: indoor air quality, thermal comfort, acoustics, and lighting. Buildings

The low-cost PurpleAir PM2.5 monitor showed good performance but struggled with higher concentrations and had lower consistency when measuring particles >1 μm. Building and Environment

Physical barriers did not adequately protect occupants from respiratory particles. Aerosol Science and Technology 

This study proposes a calculation framework to establish carbon dioxide (CO2) threshold limits to control indoor long-range airborne transmission of COVID-19. Building and Environment

This study laid the groundwork for a screening tool that could use fungal VOC emissions to help identify moldy homes. Environmental Research

Semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) can be found in the gas phase or condensed on particles.  This study researched how SVOCs can partition between the two phases.  Environmental Science & Technology

This study used artificial neural networks to predict the future indoor temperatures and thermal comfort of buildings. Building and Environment

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