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Air Quality in Indoor Environments, 2nd Edition

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 August 2024) | Viewed by 5687

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
H&TRC—Health & Technology Research Center, ESTeSL—Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Saúde, Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa, 1600-560 Lisbon, Portugal
Interests: exposure assessment; occupational exposure; occupational health; aerosols; bacteriology; atmosphere pollution; indoor air quality; environmental health
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
1. H & TRC—Health & Technology Research Center, ESTeSL—Escola Superior de Tecnologia e Saúde, Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa, 1990-096 Lisbon, Portugal
2. Public Health Research Centre, NOVA National School of Public Health, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, 1099-085 Lisbon, Portugal
3. Comprehensive Health Research Center (CHRC), NOVA Medical School, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, 1169-056 Lisbon, Portugal
Interests: fungal occupational exposure; indoor air quality; aspergillus epidemiology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Centro de Ciências e Tecnologias Nucleares (C2TN), Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 2695-066 Loures, Portugal
Interests: aromatic plants; antimicrobial properties; bioactivity; food safety and quality
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
H&TRC-Health & Technology Research Center, Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Saúde (ESTeSL), Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa, 1900-096 Lisbon, Portugal
Interests: environmental health; healthy ageing; susceptible population exposure to air pollutants; human health impacts to air pollutants; indoor and atmospheric air quality assessment; source apportionment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce the second edition of this Special Issue. According to the World Health Organization, ambient air pollution is a major global public health concern. High levels of pollution in the air may cause diseases and have health repercussions in the long or short term, such as stroke, heart diseases, lung cancer, and both chronic and acute respiratory diseases. Indoor and ambient air pollution have been recognised as one of the main risk factors for non-communicable diseases, alongside unhealthy diets, tobacco smoking, harmful use of alcohol, and physical inactivity. Most outdoor air pollutants penetrate into our homes, workplace, and schools and can react with indoor air pollutants. In fact, harmful air pollutants can exist in higher concentrations in indoor than outdoor spaces. Moreover, people spend most of their time (over 90%) indoors, more so in recent years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This evidence shows the importance of studying the exposure to indoor air pollution (including chemicals and bioaerosols), which is a very important health risk factor that needs to be controlled and reduced.

Therefore, we encourage scholars to submit their manuscripts for publication in the second edition of this Special Issue.

Dr. Ana Monteiro
Prof. Dr. Carla Viegas
Dr. Sandra Cabo Verde
Dr. Marina Almeida-Silva
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • indoor air quality
  • indoor air pollution
  • health care facilities
  • occupational health
  • public health
  • schools
  • dwellings

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 2477 KiB  
Article
Utilizing an Arduino Uno-Based System with Integrated Sensor Data Fusion and Filtration Techniques for Enhanced Air Quality Monitoring in Residential Spaces
by Ivan Rudavskyi, Halyna Klym, Yuriy Kostiv, Ivan Karbovnyk, Illia Zhydenko, Anatoli I. Popov and Marina Konuhova
Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(19), 9012; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14199012 - 6 Oct 2024
Viewed by 1424
Abstract
This study presents an air quality monitoring system that employs the Arduino Uno microcontroller. The system is augmented with a moving average filter and data fusion techniques from BME680 and CCS811 sensors, which are designed to process and combine data from these sensors. [...] Read more.
This study presents an air quality monitoring system that employs the Arduino Uno microcontroller. The system is augmented with a moving average filter and data fusion techniques from BME680 and CCS811 sensors, which are designed to process and combine data from these sensors. The system was tested and analyzed empirically across a range of residential environments in order to validate its efficacy. The findings indicated that the typical IAQ level in a bedroom was approximately 20 units. However, this level increased significantly, reaching 140 units, within minutes after the introduction of a 17% perfume spray. In contrast, the use of an aromatic diffuser resulted in a smaller increase in IAQ to 40 units, which returned to normal levels after ventilation. Moreover, the analysis demonstrated that the kitchen and bathroom exhibited inferior air quality in comparison to the bedroom. This was evidenced by elevated VOC and humidity levels, which were observed to be 10–20% higher due to the combined effects of household activities and inadequate ventilation. This study makes a significant contribution to the field of air quality monitoring by proposing a solution that employs sensor technology and data processing methods to enhance the quality of life within residential spaces. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Air Quality in Indoor Environments, 2nd Edition)
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18 pages, 3935 KiB  
Article
Experimental Device to Evaluate Aerosol Dispersion in Venues
by Isabell Schulz, Felix Hehnen, Kevin Harry Lausch, Sophia Mareike Geisler, Ümit Hasirci, Sophia Wolff, Tim Rese, Sebastian Schimek, Michael Lommel, Christian Oliver Paschereit, Stefan Moritz, Martin Kriegel and Ulrich Kertzscher
Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(13), 5601; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14135601 - 27 Jun 2024
Viewed by 625
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has focused attention on the importance of understanding and mitigating the airborne transmission of pathogens in indoor environments. This study investigated the aerosol distribution in different indoor venues with varying ventilation concepts, including displacement, mixed, and natural ventilation. A measurement [...] Read more.
The COVID-19 pandemic has focused attention on the importance of understanding and mitigating the airborne transmission of pathogens in indoor environments. This study investigated the aerosol distribution in different indoor venues with varying ventilation concepts, including displacement, mixed, and natural ventilation. A measurement system was developed to investigate venue-specific aerosol distribution patterns using a sodium chloride solution as a tracer. To analyse the spatial dispersion of aerosols, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations were conducted in addition to experimental investigations. The investigations indicated the lowest aerosol load for the venue with displacement ventilation and the highest for the naturally ventilated venue. The measurement system developed in this study provides a useful tool for assessing the effectiveness of ventilation measures in reducing airborne transmission of pathogens in indoor environments. It also proved its wide range of applications, as it can be used in variously sized and shaped indoor environments, with or without an audience. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Air Quality in Indoor Environments, 2nd Edition)
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25 pages, 3709 KiB  
Article
Data Acquisition, Processing, and Aggregation in a Low-Cost IoT System for Indoor Environmental Quality Monitoring
by Alberto Barbaro, Pietro Chiavassa, Virginia Isabella Fissore, Antonio Servetti, Erica Raviola, Gustavo Ramírez-Espinosa, Edoardo Giusto, Bartolomeo Montrucchio, Arianna Astolfi and Franco Fiori
Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(10), 4021; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14104021 - 9 May 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1647
Abstract
The rapid spread of Internet of Things technologies has enabled a continuous monitoring of indoor environmental quality in office environments by integrating monitoring devices equipped with low-cost sensors and cloud platforms for data storage and visualization. Critical aspects in the development of such [...] Read more.
The rapid spread of Internet of Things technologies has enabled a continuous monitoring of indoor environmental quality in office environments by integrating monitoring devices equipped with low-cost sensors and cloud platforms for data storage and visualization. Critical aspects in the development of such monitoring systems are effective data acquisition, processing, and visualization strategies, which significantly influence the performance of the system both at monitoring device and at cloud platform level. This paper proposes novel strategies to address the challenges in the design of a complete monitoring system for indoor environmental quality. By adopting the proposed solution, one can reduce the data rate transfer between the monitoring devices and the server without loss of information, as well as achieve efficient data storage and aggregation on the server side to minimize retrieval times. Finally, enhanced flexibility in the dashboard for data visualization is obtained, thus enabling graph modifications without extensive coding efforts. The functionality of the developed system was assessed, with the collected data in good agreement with those from other instruments used as references. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Air Quality in Indoor Environments, 2nd Edition)
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17 pages, 1442 KiB  
Article
Perceived Air Quality, Thermal Comfort and Health: A Survey of Social Housing Residents in Kazakhstan
by Mainur Kurmanbekova, Jiangtao Du and Stephen Sharples
Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(6), 2513; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14062513 - 16 Mar 2024
Viewed by 1312
Abstract
Kazakhstan is in Central Asia and is the ninth-largest country in the world. Some socially vulnerable segments of the Kazakh population residing in subsidised social housing have experienced a range of problems due to the low quality of housing construction and its planning. [...] Read more.
Kazakhstan is in Central Asia and is the ninth-largest country in the world. Some socially vulnerable segments of the Kazakh population residing in subsidised social housing have experienced a range of problems due to the low quality of housing construction and its planning. Poor indoor environmental conditions in social housing contribute to occupants’ comfort, health, and general well-being. This study assessed social housing residents’ health and quality of life, focusing on their perceived indoor air quality and thermal comfort satisfaction. A cross-sectional survey in Kazakhstan was conducted to test the effects of environmental factors on social housing residents’ health and satisfaction. Four hundred thirty-one responses were analysed, and the SF12v2 questionnaire was used to measure the health-related quality of life. Multiple regression analysis showed that air quality negatively predicted the respondents’ physical (PCS) and mental (MCS) health. In addition, age, smoking, and employment status had a significantly negative effect on PCS, while education level had a predictive positive effect. Thermal conditions negatively predicted only MCS, as well as alcohol consumption. Next, the air-conditioning control factor had a negative effect. In contrast, low air circulation, low humidity, high solar gain, temperature imbalance, duration of the residence and alcohol consumption had a significantly positive effect on overall satisfaction with the temperature. The odour sources from tobacco, furniture and external sources were predictors of respondents’ overall air quality satisfaction, along with the duration of the residence, alcohol consumption and smoking status. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Air Quality in Indoor Environments, 2nd Edition)
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