Abstract
Indoor air quality has become one of the most seriousenvironmental concerns as an average person spends about 22 hrindoors on a daily basis. The study reported in this article, wasconducted to determine the effectiveness of three commercialHVAC (Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning) duct cleaning processes in reducing the level of airborne particulate matterand viable bioaerosols. The three HVAC sanitation processeswere: (1) Contact method (use of conventional vacuum cleaning ofinterior duct surfaces); (2) Air sweep method (use of compressedair to dislodging dirt and debris); (3) Rotary brush method(insertion of a rotary brush into the ductwork to agitate anddislodge the debris). Effectiveness of these sanitationprocesses was evaluated in terms of airborne particulate andviable bioaerosol concentrations in residential homes. Eightidentical homes were selected in the same neighborhood. Twohomes were cleaned using each procedure and two were used ascontrols. It was found that both particle count readings andbioaerosol concentrations were higher when cleaning was beingperformed than before or after cleaning, which suggests thatdirt, debris and other pollutants may become airborne as aresult of disturbances caused by the cleaning processes.Particle count readings at 0.3 micron size were found to haveincreased due to cigarette smoking. Particle counts at 1.0micron size were reduced due to HVAC duct cleaning. Post-levelbioaerosol concentrations, taken two days after cleaning, werefound to be lower than the pre-level concentrations suggestingthat the cleaning procedures were effective to some extent.Homes cleaned with the Air Sweep procedure showed the highestdegree of reduction in bioaerosol concentration among the threeprocedures investigated.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bayer, C. W.: 1990, ‘Maintaining optimum indoor air quality’, J. Prop. Manage. 55, 37–39.
Delaney, L.: 1991, ‘The air doctor's report: how to protect yourself from dangers blowing through your house’, Prevention 43, 44–49.
Krafcision, G.: 1993, ‘New environmental challenges for risk manager’, Risk Manage. 40, 29–32.
Mansdorf, Z.: 1993, ‘Indoor air quality: a modern day dilemma’, Occup. Hazards 55, 11–14.
Maserjian, K.: 1993, ‘According to a fact sheet on indoor air quality and sick building syndrome’, Interior Design 64, 56.
Materson, J. F.: 1992, ‘Indoor air quality misconceptions may become liabilities’, Air Conditioning, Heating Refrigeration News 185, 28.
Moschandreas, D. J.: 1981, Exposure to Pollutants and Daily Time Budgets of People, Presented at the Symposium on Indoor Air Quality Held by Committee on Public Health of the New York Academy of Medicine, May 28.
National Academy of Sciences (NAS): 1981, Indoor Pollutants, National Research Council, Washington, DC, National Academy Press.
Ritter, G. L.: 1993, ‘Air quality control: what have we learned about IAQ?,’ Air Conditioning Heating Refrigeration News 190, 12.
Triplett, T.: 1992, ‘Is there trouble in the air?’, Safety Health 145, 38–43.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ahmad, I., Tansel, B. & Mitrani, J.D. Effectiveness of HVAC Duct Cleaning Procedures in Improving Indoor Air Quality. Environ Monit Assess 72, 265–276 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1012045104566
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1012045104566