Indoor Air Quality

The Berkeley Lab maintains an Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Program to ensure that employees are provided with a safe and healthy working environment.

Inadequate general ventilation, building materials containing volatile chemicals, poor ventilation maintenance, or mold growth may result in employee complaints of headaches and allergy like symptoms. Low concentrations of volatile chemicals and bioaerosols are commonly found in indoor environments such as office spaces. Preventative maintenance plans and increased ventilation are the most frequent controls applied.

It is often difficult to identify and resolve the many underlying causes and contributing factors to IAQ concerns. Complaints are first characterized to define the problem then a detailed HVAC system evaluation may be necessary along with the identification of other potential pollutant sources or pathways. Pollutant sampling may be conducted to verify the existence of contaminants or to document potential exposure.

If you have concerns about IAQ, contact the Industrial Hygienist assigned to support your Division or contact Laurel Davis, the program manager, x2324 (LADavis@lbl.gov).

Additional

• http://www.cal-iaq.org/
  
• http://www.epa.gov/iaq/molds/moldguide.html
• http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/indoorenv/
  
• http://www.aiha.org/news-pubs/bg/Pages/MoldDetectionRemediation.aspx